A Pain That Won't Leave
by Soul Hunter
Summary: One year after FF7 events, Cloud and Tifa's life was rocked with the return of a lost friend. One who's not supposed to return...
1. Part 1

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A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

**_"Mistake Not the Thorns for the Roses"_**

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Part One

Another day, another morning. Another attempt at milking Tifa's cow.

Cloud could hardly believe what he's been doing for the last week. It was only a month since he came back from Kalm after that long-overdue meeting with Reeve and the Midgar residents' coalition. Looking back at that day with much annoyance, the spiky-haired former freedom fighter of the defunct rebel group known as Avalanche can hardly accept the irony of a situation marred by some people's glaring deficiency of what he hoped would be gratitude. He did help in saving their lives in the midst of that world-rocking event involving a certain demented outcome of a forbidden experiment and the celestial hunk of rock it called forth from the heavens. Yeah, they were thankful at first. But counting out those who inhabited the city's caliginous under-portion would leave a group constituted mainly of the more affluent class who occupied the much more brightly-lit upper platform.

Those were the ones who, a year previous, had been counting their blessings and proclaiming their admiration for the heroes who saved the day. Those were the people who sung songs of praise in tribute to their saviors. And those were the same ingrates who, after a period of realization that opened their eyes to a painful truth that most of their properties had been destroyed in the otherworldly onslaught, have started pointing their blaming fingers on the same eight whom they were once declaring as their life-savers. As they had later claimed, their city would still be standing in all its industrial splendor if Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and a host of their comrades hadn't been foolish enough to stand against the grossly maltreated Sephiroth. If they had only allowed him to have his way, the people thought, things wouldn't have come to this ugly point. They would still have their houses, offices, parks, cars, casinos, nightclubs, sports clubs

Funny how fickle and utterly stupid some butter-fingered blue-blood pretenders can get. Cloud almost wished that they had allowed Meteor to crash on that city reeking with double-faced ingrates.

Nevertheless, he knew that the most prudent thing to do in a situation like that would simply be to walk away. Away from the incredibly appalling faces of foolish presumption and ignorant loftiness. 

So he went back here, in Nibelheim, after disgustingly turning a disappointed look at Reeve to give him the inevitable message that he's on his own in dealing with such impossible ingrates and blame-pointers. 

"Lemme out of here before I start feeding the floor to this idiots!" He had told the former Shinra executive who held the helms of a fortune-telling, stuffed Moogle. Of course, Reeve knew Cloud too well to step in his path and beg him to give the people another chance. But the Mako-infused warrior knew better. 

Now, he's starting to wonder which one is more tolerable: a people who don't appreciate their life-threatening accomplishment, or a cow who believes that the feminism movement shouldn't be limited to humans alone.

Lazily rubbing his eyes, Cloud decided against a momentary urge of pleasure and lifted his half-asleep body off the uncushioned bed where Tifa had been letting him sleep for the past week. He thought, after all this time and what happened between the two of them prior to the Northern Crater assault, the woman whom everyone thought to be the right one for him would at least let him sleep beside her. Just sleep, nothing else. As Cloud can still manage to appreciate her efforts of maintaining a wholesome front before Marlene, whom Barret left in their care before he departed for a mission of mercy in his hometown of Corel six days ago. No excessive cuddling as long as the little girl is around.

It took him merely minutes to freshen up from his six-hour slumber. Pretty soon, Cloud was on his way to the newly constructed stables where the solitary cow given to Tifa as a gift from the people of Mideel was being housed. The girl with fists of steel didn't know the first thing about cattle rearing, and she was hoping a well-rounded man like Cloud would be able to help teach her the persistent error of her ways.

What does it say about one blind man leading another?

Elmyra always laughed at him whenever Mimi (the cow) moaned in pain with every wrong grip the clueless warrior slapped on her defenseless mammary glands. Tifa's face was always somber, of course, in trying to give Cloud the impression that she hoped she could do something to help him. It would then be followed by a subtle trip to the kitchen where she'd unabashedly release the frenetic laughter trapped menacingly inside her tortured gut.

Cloud now stands before what is probably one of the most challenging adversities he has ever faced. Mimi stands apprehensive, eyeing the gloved hands at the end of each of his arms. And again, the dread on the poor cow's eyes cannot be denied. Cloud had been accustomed to this scene for the last week. And though he wished he could spare Mimi the pain born of his ignorance (and himself of the humiliation), the morning gladiator could do nothing but proceed with the day's inevitable battle.

Turning into a corner to get the milking buckets, Cloud wondered briefly as he clamped his hands firmly on the loose handles. The buckets were heavy, as if someone filled it with water or something. He then lifted the lid in an effort to solve the mystery of the gravity-affectionated receptacles, only to discover them filled to the brim with warm, fresh cow's milk.

"Hey, somebody beat me here. I wonder who milked Mimi" he thought to himself. Cloud pondered for a moment, wondering about the generous soul who spared him his tedious chore at least for this morning. 

Turning around to leave the barn, he was stopped abruptly by an unexpected perception. 

"Wha smells like bacon and eggs" Cloud muttered. "Hey, Tifa cooked breakfast!"

Quickly dashing for the kitchen, Cloud then eagerly pushed open the swinging door to witness Marlene ebulliently devouring a portion of the sumptuous morning meal served on the table.

"Hi Marlene. Where's Tifa?"

"She's still asleep."

"What?" The blonde-locked sorry excuse for a farmer wonderingly echoed. "So she didn't make breakfast?"

"Nope." Marlene quipped prior to a mouthful of toast.

"Elmyra?"

"Nope. Mommy Elmyra is also sleeping." 

"Then who made breakfast, Marlene? Don't tell me it's you." Cloud retorted with a slightly raised voice brought forth by his puzzlement.

"I cannot tell a lie, uncle Cloud." Marlene unmindfully answered. "It wasn't me either. But if I tell you who did this, you might not believe me."

Growing mildly irritated by the early morning confusion, Cloud could do nothing but scratch his head. He certainly cannot raise his voice any more with the fear of Marlene misconstruing it to be born of anger. Consequently, he paused for a brief moment to breathe in a fresh batch of calming air. Feeling the annoyance subsiding, he then came back to the preoccupied Marlene with the most amiable voice he can muster.

"Of course I'll believe you, Marlene. Go ahead, tell me who cooked breakfast."

"Promise you won't yell at me?"

"Promise. Cross my heart!"

"Okay!" the child answered while turning to Cloud with a smile. "She's back! She said she wanted to surprise us so she visited without telling us."

"Who's she?" Cloud asked anew with squinting eyes. "Your Aunt Yuffie?"

"No" Marlene slowly came back.

"Then who?"

" The flower girl"

Cloud nearly dropped the cup he was holding.

**End of Part One**


	2. Part 2

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A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

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Part Two

A step past two that the crimson-cloaked figure made was abruptly interrupted by a cognizance not quite unexpected. Darting his alerted eyes around, the enigmatic man with raven locks and a sullen face stills the noise from his beating heart, exercising the routine learned long ago as he focused his undivided attention toward what he thought was an alien presence in this otherwise undisturbed territory.

There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary, with the same barely moving waters providing hardly a sound loud enough to stir the serene atmosphere. And yet, the perception of abnormality persists inside his psyche. As it should be, he surmises, since the absence of such an anomaly would itself be anomalous considering how he was drawn back into this place of sadness for no apparent reason. 

He knows there's something wrong. He can smell the stench of the mystery that roused him from his quiet slumber not a few days previous, prior to a decision that made him travel the many miles en route to this excruciatingly memorable place ironically described to be forgotten. A slight difference in the pattern of the undulating waters in the silent lagoon pulled him to a spot where, some time ago, a friend of his was laid to rest.

The ever-somber soul fought the urge to explore its depths, not knowing how he would react to a sight he knows he should expect.

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"Marlene, you know how daddy always taught you never to tell a lie." Cloud slowly said in giving emphasis to an age-old virtue that he hopes the little girl with a satin headband in her hair has learned to give value. Marlene's eyes consequently became sheepish, reflecting her struggles in trying to let him know of her honesty.

"But it's true! I'm not telling a lie, Uncle Cloud. I saw her cooking early this morning after she saw Mimi. I wanted to wake you but Mommy Elmyra told me never to disturb anyone who's sleeping."

Trying not to vent his ire on the innocent girl, Cloud breathed a few in his effort to clear his head. This morning is not going pretty well, he thought, especially with the prospect of seeing the return of someone whom he knows to be long gone. An initial feeling of thrill overtook him while considering the possibility, then it was followed by the sudden chill enveloping his suddenly sweaty hands. Cloud wondered, if Marlene is indeed not imagining things, how could such a thing be possible?

Understandably, he wasn't able to keep himself from recalling a deep-seated memory he fought so hard to bury inside the deepest crevices of his heart. A remembrance that on its time of occurrence, brought the sharpest slice of pain he had ever experienced. A memory that at this very moment he discovered to be just as debilitating and tormenting as it was before. Why is this? How could something that took place in an imprisoned past not lose the sting it brandished over the transpired years that should have weathered it out?

This can't be right, Cloud hollered in his mind. Some cruel idiot must be playing a malicious prank at them.

Is that what he wanted to believe?

"What's the commotion all about, you two?" A refreshed-looking Elmyra emerged from the portal separating the kitchen from the dining room. "Don't tell me Mimi's acting up again"

Cloud tossed an indifferent look at Elmyra, which had to last for a brief moment as he was wary of her decoding the message behind it. It's bad enough that he had to have his morning ruined by this bewildering news. And the blonde-haired warrior knew only too well not to share the burgeoning embattlement on the person who would probably be hit the hardest with this development. And yet, the urge to let Elmyra know of Marlene's account tried to fight. If there is substance to it, the former sector 6 housewife would discover it sooner or later. 

"Uh um nothing, Elmyra. Nothing at all."

"Uncle Cloud doesn't believe me when I told him the flow UMMPPHHHH!" was Marlene's startled muffling when Cloud suddenly covered her mouth with his hands. But it was too late to escape Elmyra's suspicion.

"Cloud, is there anything I should know about?" She suspiciously asked.

"You? Know about? N-No no!" He responded elusively. "What do you need to know about anyway?"

"Cloud" Elmyra muttered under her breath. "Does this have to do something with Tifa and her visitor?"

"Visit what?!? What visitor?!?"

Elmyra looked at Cloud, as if surprised that she didn't know anything about the murmuring noises she heard upstairs when she passed by Tifa's door. 

"I think they're inside her room. I was going to knock to wake her up but I didn't want to interrupt them, whoever it is up there with her. Maybe one of your friends arrived last ni"

His heart racing like never before, Cloud didn't wait for the middle-aged woman to complete her sentence, swiftly darting off his spot toward the suddenly dreadful stairway. Stopping just short of the uppermost step, the anxious Cloud felt his chest tighten while facing the prospect 

Of seeing her again

"No this cannot be. This is not possible" He muttered while shaking his head vigorously. "I saw her I saw her die right in front of me. She breathed her last breath in these very arms" He continues his wallowing, raising his arms up as if they had turned back into the relic he once nurtured.

The very last part of his body that touched her before she ultimately submerged to her rest beneath a defiantly warm pool surrounded by frigid air. Cloud had wondered then, as he takes too much value in the last touch of her body whose warmth was slowly ebbing away together with the essence slowly escaping from it. Had he been able to do something during that time, would Aeris be with them still? Would he still be hearing her crisp laughter, her sweet and caring voice, her soft and faint lullabies that soothed him whenever he complained of battle pains?

Would he have escaped the lingering torments that had haunted him ever since that night a year ago that night that robbed him of the initial peace he gained for understanding why Aeris had to go? The blonde-haired lad had thought it over, finished and completed. The mysterious Ancient who just happened to be the most tender soul he had ever had the pleasure of knowing gave her life to release the ultimate power that they hoped will eventually vanquish the threat of Meteor. The pain was immense, excruciating, and yet he tried to understand. It's for the greater good, for the ultimate salvation of all who lived and breathed. It was the most selfless act of courage and love that anyone has ever seen.

And Cloud couldn't be more proud of the one whom he once called his beloved. A mighty feeling of regard that gave him the peace he sought and the fortitude he longed for in dealing with her absence. Yes, she had to go. That's the only way the world can be rescued from extinction.

And he was totally all right with that.

Until one dismal night when he heard her voice in the midst of his deep slumber. A night of his peace of mind's total turn around when he saw a vision of Aeris, with that utterly lovely face and the same echoing voice that called his name out loud. Cloud almost cursed that night for it suddenly brought him into a dreadful realization of how much he had been lying to himself. He had claimed happiness and contentment in the arms of the one who was always there for him. He had thought Tifa was the one meant for him.

That night, the only thing that preserved their relationship was the love Cloud regarded for Tifa. But that love was not whole. It was somewhat divided and certainly not monopolized by the one left living. And to Cloud's consternation, Tifa actually knew about the struggles he had to contend with. She knew about his mysterious doubt and lingering longing to settle things with himself and his heart. She was aware of his secret wish to once again see her best friend.

"Don't worry about me. I'm not gonna go all hysterical about this. Just take your time and let me know when you're ready" Tifa had told Cloud then. He remembered her smile and the sincere brilliance of her nigh-ebony eyes. He knew she meant what she said. And if only for that, Cloud could really not love anyone more.

But the stubborn question dwelling in his heart must be answered. How can he truly be happy in loving one when the memories of the other are still mightily kicking around, pushing him to always look back. Cloud had been wishing then of another chance to see her, to touch her and hear her wonderful resonance. He had wanted all these and more if only to know once and for all.

But Aeris breathed her last before his very eyes. She died in these wretched arms the same arms now trying their best to keep him from falling face-first on the floor.

And now, the innocent claim of a little girl not likely to lie professed that it was his lost beloved that gained Mimi's trust and prepared that wonderful meal whose tempting aroma are still lingering in his nostrils. And all points indicate the same yearned for soul that is now inside Tifa's bedroom, and actually talking to her.

It's just too good to be true it's almost painful.

But this is his chance. He must know.

However, an unexpected streak of doubt and angst suddenly tore through his otherwise anticipating heart. Cloud felt a darkness casting over his psyche as if becoming aware of a horrid soul ruthlessly playing with his heart's innermost wish. 

The darkness of doubt and the light of wishfulness were already locked in bitter combat when he finally pushed the door open to see Tifa's quivering form tightly embracing one with that familiar thick, brown hair flying out with her perky spirit despite the loose braid holding them together. He saw Tifa's face, crying unabashedly, her fingers digging deep into this person's shoulders, reflecting the terrible ache of absence that he also had felt in himself, only a hundred-fold mightier.

He sees the face of the foreigner, that same face who once turned to him and told him that she'd be back when all this is over.

And Cloud felt his knees buckle.

**End of Part Two**


	3. Part 3

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A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

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Part Three

The surroundings had become nothing but a blank space, totally devoid of life and color. As if seeing anything, Cloud held on desperately to the doorknob that in his eyes were really not there. He looked back, expecting to see a hallway that was rendered nil in his beleaguered mind. Nothing else existed, no one left present...

Except for the one before him he had thought gone.

Shaking his head anew, the perplexed warrior had to struggle to regain his normal perception. In the midst of the emptiness, he heard a voice, echoing seemly far and deep. Finally closing his eyes, Cloud desperately reached out to regain his grasp of reality. He must have been just dreaming, after all.

"Cloud..." the voice reverberated once more.

Then he realized that this is by no means a dream, as Cloud opened his eyes to the vision of a woman standing before him. Her eyes, drenched with tears, projected a joy that seemed to know no bounds. He gazed at Tifa, meeting her eyes with his which appeared to be lost more than anything else.

He then felt her arms around him.

"I can't believe it...! Cloud, she came back to us..."

Jolted by her utterance, the embattled Cloud braved a gaze beyond Tifa's proximity. There, sitting on top of the bed, was the woman whose loss had left a deep scar in his heart. There, his unbelieving eyes once again beheld her.

And Aeris could do nothing but bow her head. But only for a moment, as she gained hold of a resolve in her heart that led her gaze up once more, meeting his. She then smiled.

"Hello, Cloud."

The sweetest smile ever to grace his deprived gaze, together with a resonance replete with gladness, and yet spiked with anxiety owing to the unexpected doubt she saw in his questioning eyes. Cloud still remembers that heart-melting smile, that disarming face, and the voice that stilled his wild heart. He remembers everything about Aeris... 

"Cloud, can you hear me? It's Aeris! She's returned for us..."

... He just can't... or doesn't want to believe that she's here with him once more.

"I... I..." He stammered, not knowing what to say while subjected under this indescribable experience. Tifa subsequently released her hold and looked him straight in the eye.

"I know how you must be feeling. I couldn't believe it at first either. I mean... I was also there when it happened, remember?"

He stared back at Tifa, as if measuring the degree of sense coming out of her mouth... and saw nothing but pure joy in her face. 

"But... that's really not important now, is it? All I know is she's back. I don't know how it became possible... but I'm just so happy right now I really don't care anymore..."

His mind in complete shambles, Cloud tried to fight the urge to tell her off for reasons that he is really unsure of. The storm raging in his chest almost brought him to a hostile demeanor that would have meant dejection for the two women before him. Cloud has never felt confusion this great, and yet the jubilation in Tifa's visage empowered him to fend off the initial shock, at least for a few more moments.

Carefully leading Tifa out of his way, Cloud mustered all his courage in stepping forward, where Aeris waited on the edge of the bed. The longing look in her eyes almost burned him, as he was so sure that was the same look she gave him just before disappearing into the enchanted woods one year ago.

"Aeris..." his mouth finally muttered her name, to which the last surviving Ancient responded with a gleaming streak in her beautiful eyes.

"How... How are you?" Aeris echoed, uncertain of the answer he might give. Seeming numberless moments elapsed between the two... moments that crept in a gradual progression of limited eternity.

Suddenly, the angst in his heart prevailed anew. Aeris was abruptly shaken hard when Cloud snapped at her with pure indignation.

"No! This isn't real! This isn't happening!" The suddenly hostile Cloud bellowed before furiously walking out of he room. Equally startled by his behavior, Tifa spent a few seconds to regain her composure before turning once more to Aeris.

"I... I'm sorry, Aeris. But you have to understand..."

"I do... don't worry, Tifa. I myself don't know how this all happened... and I can imagine just how hard it must be for you to believe that I'm here once more after what Sephiroth did..."

"Stop that, Aeris. I don't care about that anymore, and I'm sure your mother will feel the same way once she sees you. Cloud just needs some time to get used to this since... well... Let's just say we all reacted in different ways to your... Oh... oh my..."

"My... death...?"

"Ohmigosh... I'm sorry, Aeris." Tifa repentantly returned. "I didn't mean to..."

"Like I said, don't worry about me. We can try to find the answers some other time. For now.... I just wanna see my mother."

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Continuing his surveillance, the man with the menacing weapon of gunpowder and bullets cautiously examined the entrance to the hidden city found below his perch. It appeared to be undisturbed, at least not for the recent past, he surmised. Nothing he'd seen so far can truly be adjudged as out of the ordinary, and he's now beginning to consider the futility of his efforts.

Just then, a faint and almost inaudible sound interrupted his concentration. Vigilant eyes combined with razor-sharp senses to begin another survey of the pristine terrain, adamantly seeking to zero in on the cause of that subtle disturbance.

He drew out his rifle and aimed it at the door from where he had entered a few minutes earlier. He shot out a hostile warning, meant to lure the hidden intruder out of its concealment. Hearing soft footsteps emanating from beyond the door, the man of mystery promptly used his thumb to pull back the diminutive hammer to its ominous ready position, and then held his breath to patiently wait for the intruder to reveal itself.

A slight wonderment engulfed him after his trained ears detected more than one set of footsteps. And from the resonance coming from a surface of loose gravel and sand, the man astutely discerned not those noises being made of solidly landing soles...

... But those of the stealthy whispers of four paws.

Smiling to himself, the man relented from his guard and holstered his gun, subsequently voicing out a warm greeting to welcome the arrival of his copper-hued comrade with the luminescent tail.

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He can't have possibly doubted her. Cloud's mind wandered back to that instant a few minutes earlier, of that repulsive moment when he suddenly found himself unleashing a hostile front against her. Silently, the former Avalanche fighter lashed at himself for his unnatural behavior. What could have gotten into him?

Isn't this the moment that he had been wishing to happen? Wasn't he the one desiring to set his eyes one more time on this woman? This gentle lady whose heart of gold poignantly touched his once-dulled feelings?

What was he thinking?

Once again, Cloud tried to push himself forward to get a better view of what's happening inside the house. He saw Marlene, her wondering eyes transfixed at the profusely weeping Elmyra who can't seem to pry her arms from the girl she had loved as her own from the moment she saw her alone by the train station in lower Midgar. From that considerable distance, Cloud can easily discern the immense joy overflowing from the middle-aged woman's strained eyes. And he can see Aeris returning the fervor, projecting the yearning she must have felt in the midst of being away from the woman she called mother.

His thoughts then wandered off to a tributary. Aeris had been dead. She had already fused with the Lifestream, and had become one with the Planet. In a state that can be called pure bliss, is there really enough room for the resting life forces to even remember the most important people in their past lives?

Thus, another question came back to Cloud. Has Aeris truly reached the final destination? Has she really been immersed in spirit with the Lifestream's endless flow? Then if so, what is she doing here?

Can this person be the real Aeris, the one he had regarded so highly once upon a time?

The return of the shadow on his psyche was abrupt, but not unexpected. Once again, the indignation began to get the better of him. 

The dead cannot return to life. It's just not possible. Even Sephiroth himself, with all the powers he wielded, wasn't able to accomplish this impossible feat, as far as he knows. If she is indeed a fraud, who is this person posing as Aeris?

And who is the merciless miscreant currently making a mockery of her memories?

Walking back into the barn where he met Mimi's interrogating look, Cloud strutted beyond the area he usually surveys every morning. There's a mound of hay standing in solitude in the farthest corner of the stable. Pausing briefly to examine the soundness of his impending action, Cloud nevertheless ceded to his tormented conviction. Reaching deep into the haystack, he subsequently pulled out his arms once more. His hands now clutched the hard hand guard of the gleaming Ultima Weapon.

"Aeris" he muttered under his breath. "Whoever's desecrating your memory will pay dearly for this."

**End of Part Three**


	4. Part 4

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A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

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Part Four

The look on her face betrayed the brimming joy in her heart, as her hands can't seem to stop themselves from traversing the smooth length of Aeris' long flowing hair. Elmyra's thoughts briefly wandered off, in a past that seemed so long ago. Her adopted daughter was barely in her teens then, with that hair starting to display its stunning magnificence that compelled her to take its shining brilliance into her hands and lovingly intertwine them into that familiar braid. 

A mother's trivial but ultimately lasting gesture of love for her child. 

The child that was lost to her in that monumental war against a force that sought the extinction of everyone who walked the face of the planet. The child who wasn't a child anymore when she unselfishly gave her whole being to the ultimate task of salvation. A child that Elmyra would have been extremely proud of if not for her untimely demise.

And now, that child is before her once more, as warm and animated as she was, as if the toxic embrace of death never really got hold of her. The questions that initially were spawned in the loving woman's mind eventually became moot in light of the happiness she is now feeling. Her beloved daughter is back, and that's all that mattered to her.

Seemingly for the umpteenth time, Elmyra gently pushed Aeris back to stare into her gentle face, tears threatening to well out anew from her aging eyes.

"I can't believe my baby's back with me"

"Mom" Aeris muttered, her eyes reflecting the profound joy being radiated by her adoptive mother's aura. Unable to further her speech, the last Ancient opted to hold her mother once more.

However, unwelcome thoughts start to flood her mind once more, brought forth by the recollection of that morning's dejection she so unexpectedly received from Cloud. Aeris started to ponder anew. Though trying her best to understand his dreary behavior, she also realized the need to convince him soon if she wants to accomplish her task before it's too late.

And as the day flowed by around her, with the knowledge of her designated troubleshooters already on their way, Aeris knows she doesn't have much time left.

Cloud's defenses must be destroyed.

And she knows only too well to utilize the unwitting support of those who are closest to him at this moment.

"Mom I'm I'm kinda depressed"

"What is it, dear. Tell me" Elmyra tenderly responded.

"ItIt's about Cloud. He doesn't seem to want me around anymore" Aeris mumbled with a crack in her voice.

"Nonsense, dear. Cloud is just he's just confused right now."

"Do you think so? I mean, do you think he will ever accept me?"

"Aeris" the mother faced her daughter squarely. "You didn't see how much he suffered after you left. Cloud all he wanted to do then was to move on with his life, but your memories kept pulling him back. Sephiroth's defeat wasn't really the end of his struggles. Actually, it was only the beginning."

Aeris just looked on as Elmyra continued.

"Honestly, I admire his courage. After braving tremendous odds in being true to himself and facing his inner specter, and after that struggling to be strong enough to defeat Sephiroth, he needed once more to call on that courage to face the fact that you're gone. I was just watching along the sidelines, but I know. I know how he just tried to pretend that he's content with the company of Tifa and all your friends. 

"Eventually, he learned to cope. He and Tifa actually almost got married at one point, I just don't know what made them cancel their wedding date. I do know it has something to do with you."

"Cloud backed out on Tifa?"

"No. No, dear. It was the other way around. From what Barret told me, it was Tifa herself who chose not to continue with their wedding plans. But that's all I know."

"What what happened?"

"Maybe you should ask Tifa about it."

A sudden resonance then startled the mother and daughter.

"Did I hear someone mention my name?"

"Hi, Tifa."

"Hello, dear."

Tifa reluctantly stepped forward, not wanting to disturb the solemn conversation, but at the same time wanting so much to convene with her friends. Aeris must have read her sentiments from the expression in her face, as she cheerfully smiled with her lips and eyes, accompanied by a prompt movement to provide room for one more in the bench they were sitting on.

A soft sensation of warmth momentarily took hold of Tifa's heart. As far as she can tell, this is indeed the same Aeris that she knew, not a long time ago. She can't help letting out an uncharacteristic, girlish giggle while leaping beside the brown-haired lass.

"So, what's up with you two?" 

"What's up? You young ladies have a lot of catching up to, that's what's up." Elmyra quipped prior to lifting herself up from her wooden perch.

"Where are you going, Elmyra?"

"Much as I want to stay and chat with you two, there is still a matter of this little girl with the erratic appetite that I need to feed. So if you will excuse me..."

"Oh" Tifa faded. "Okay, we'll be right along."

The mystery surrounding the million words that need to be said but denied of a point to start became evident between the two. Tifa could have sworn earlier that there are just so many things she needs and wants to tell Aeris prior to this moment. But now that they're here, she suddenly found herself speechless.

Aeris then chose to break the ice.

"You'll never believe what happened to me on my way here."

"What?" the former bar girl retorted, relieved of the other's initiative.

"I saw a guy by the roadside. He was just walking, and he looked so lost that I can't help feeling sorry for him."

"Really?" Tifa once again came back, half-wondering the significance of Aeris' topic choice. "What does he look like?"

"Oh lemme see kinda off the wall fashion sense if you ask me. He was wearing a black leather jacket with matching gloves, pants and shoes. But the jacket had white fur on where the collar should be. And he's still young, and looked kinda cute and all, if not for that ugly scar running in between his eyebrows."

"So what did you do?"

"I wanted to help him because it appeared like he was about to faint. But my attention was drawn momentarily by a lost Chocobo. And when I looked back, he was gone."

"Gone? You mean 'Gone' gone?"

"Yeah. Really gone."

"Oooohhh!!!" Playfully moaned the teasing Tifa. "I think you just saw a ghost. Scaaaryyyy!"

But instead of being amused with her friend's antic, Aeris was drawn to a sullen contemplation brought about by that harmless joke, much to Tifa's surprise. The native of Nibelheim then realized her mistake in light of her friend's somber question.

"Tifa didn't it ever occur to you that I might be a ghost?"

Caught off-guard, Tifa became torn between responding with caution with regards to Aeris' feelings and attempting to rationalize the Ancient's return which she admitted to herself as rather bizarre. She wanted to reassure Aeris by professing her unreserved confidence, yet Tifa became wary that the latter might misconstrue this as a kind but ultimately insincere attempt at consoling her feelings.

"All I know" Tifa nevertheless answered. "All I know is that you're back with us. I admit to wondering how it became possible. But the truth is, stranger things have happened in the past. So who knows? Besides, you're an Ancient, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Tif. But Ancients are not immortals, you know."

"We're really not sure of that, are we, Aeris? Besides, who knows what kind of repercussions that battle with Sephiroth created?"

Bowing her head, Aeris uttered some soft words of gratitude owing to Tifa's kindhearted vote of confidence.

"Thanks at least you see it that way. But Cloud"

"Cloud?" the bargirl reacted. "I think Cloud is having a very hard time believing that you're you."

"What do you mean?" Aeris returned quizzically. "He's suspecting that I'm a fake? Now why in the world would he think that way?"

"Well sometimes" Tifa began to explain. " Sometimes a person can want something so bad and for so long that when he finally gets it, the happiness he feels is so intense and unbearable that it actually begins to poison him from the inside. Like, Cloud might be thinking that you being back with us is just so good to be true, it hurts too much for him to believe it. So he creates an illusion that you may just be an impostor because he truly can't handle his feelings."

"Since when did you become the psychological type?" Aeris bellowed in jest to keep Tifa from seeing her affected reaction. 

However, the knot in her throat had already prevented Tifa from being capable of coming back with any sort of reply. Much as she tried to fight back her emotions, she was unable to deny the bitter weight pressing against her chest, brought about by her own assessment of Cloud's intense yearning for Aeris' presence.

"W Well" The raven-haired former resistance fighter stammered out her words. "I just know him well, that's all. I know Cloud better than anyone else on this planet."

It didn't take much effort for Aeris to perceive the heaviness in Tifa's heart, and consequently felt the rapidly slipping hold she has for the spiky-haired warrior. Her mind suddenly racing, the resurrected Cetra realized than now, more than ever, is the time for her true mission to start. She needs to make her move soon.

----------

He can't sleep. This day has been so hard on him, and all the tumult and confusion it mercilessly brought forth inescapably rendered Cloud to a huge muddle of perplexity and bewilderment.

Looking back at the turbulent day's misgivings, his thoughts inadvertently gravitated to the single event that brought the greater part of the chaos in his mind. His recollections rushing in like a train without brakes, Cloud had to slam his eyes tight in the vain effort of shutting off the irresistible thoughts prevailing in his tortured psyche.

Aeris has returned. It seemed so bizarre and inconceivable. And rightfully so, at least he believed. For unless she had become enthralled by malevolent forces bent on new and unprecedented atrocities against him and his charges, there is really no viable way to explain how she could have broken the otherwise invincible shackles of death and walk among the living as if nothing ever happened. As if Sephiroth never came hurtling down to deliver the blow that eventually robbed him of the gentlest soul he has ever known.

He wanted so much to hate her and avenge his tortured heart. He desired so desperately to take his large blade and mutilate her intrusive body with it. However, whoever this vile pretender may be that dared to pose as his once beloved, Cloud could do nothing in the direction of true hostility. No matter how he struggled to train his wrath toward this false wraith, his arms, hands and heart were stilled helplessly by the mind-numbing effect of seeing Aeris' face in that shameless impostor.

Aeris' face the face that he so loved and then was taken away from him.

He just can't smite this heartless chameleon with his fury so long as she's brandishing Aeris' lovely visage like an invulnerable shield. And now, Cloud can only sprawl in hopelessness. He sees her, and yet she's not there.

Pondering, he then began to ask himself: If he has no proof of this person's authenticity, what evidence does he also have of her fraudulence?

What if she's the real Aeris?

But Aeris is dead. And the dead just cannot come back to life. 

Right?

He can't just allow himself the complacency to believe in something that may be true or false. If he does give himself the leeway

What if she's not Aeris? Would he risk being hurt again by counterfeit hope?

But what if she IS?!?

Cloud reeled. He's never felt a headache this intense in his whole life.

"Sleep sleep" His mind unrelentingly hollered, a vain attempt to escape this harrowing confusion.

Just then, the irritating noise of a door creaking open disturbed his troubled reverie. The slowly angling movement of the ten-foot wooden door was then followed by the silvery glare of intruding moonlight, a solid radiance broken at the center by a silhouette with the form of a hair and body shape that was only too familiar to the insomniac lad.

"Cloud" Echoed a tender voice, one that also carried the same level of familiarity. Cloud became gripped anew by astonishment upon adjusting his eyes to the renewed dark brought about by the closing barn door behind his unexpected visitor. Even cloaked in caliginous shadows, he knows that gentle face only too well.

"It's me, Aeris"

**End of Part Four**


	5. Part 5

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* * *

**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Five

__

Clad in his usual, fiery red layer of hair, the amazing creature with only one working eye growled an equally merry salutation in response to his former colleague's greeting. His paws, displaying a little more heft that reflected the growth of his lithe body's build, then slowly made their way forth, as if measuring each step and each stride, displaying the routine caution it had grown accustomed to in lieu of his past exercises. His mane then flew out slightly with the head that raised to a rare grin being displayed by the man before him. He may be wrong, thought the proud beast, but it seems that this chap known for his coldness was actually glad to see him.

Polite echoes resonated in the casual but respectful exchange of notes and experiences from the time they were parted. Thoughtful reminiscing and fond memories of both the moments they spent together and the stretch that they were apart filled the vastness of the silent temple and disturbed its innate stillness. It may not have been apparent during that past adventure, but it is quite evident now that they have grown into a friendship that escaped their respective awareness a year previous.

Then the beast started talking about a voice: poignant, placid, and strangely familiar. He started sharing the unusual nights of arcane restlessness owing to a consciousness invading his own, of an essence foreign and yet recognizable. And as he spoke, the man garbed in black with the not-so-complementary red cloak listened intently, noting the amazing similarity between their recollections. He remembered the same tender tone of that voice, its effort to conceal itself apparent and yet the timbre almost unmistakable that it was almost haunting in its resonance. To his ears, it sounded like the humble pleas of a long-lost friend.

Could it be that the same spirit that called upon him drew his four-legged comrade to this place as well? He can only wonder about the mystery shrouding this unusual circumstance.

----------

As if the day's events were not enough to stagger him, Cloud silently cursed within himself in light of this utterly compromising situation he had just found himself in. A few moments ago, he was languishing with warring forces inside his heart with regards to this woman claiming to be Aeris. The dictates of his rational thinking were compelling him to rebuff her as a pretender, while the pitiful wails of his aching heart wanted so desperately for this mysterious individual to be the one his soul had been longing for.

And now, she's standing before him, like an avenging memory bent on plunging him to an even deeper pit of confusion. Cloud could have sworn the truth screaming out of her unmistakable form. As he stared at her, his mind and heart hollered for a reality bearing the fact that she is indeed, the woman he had been missing for so long.

The indignation born of self-denying doubt fought back, and yet the presence of the one who bore Aeris' face was too much for his skepticism. As she stepped closer, his eyes can't help but reflect the hurt mixed with the joy. He pondered: how it could be so easy to just surrender to his heart's demands.

"Cloud I know that you're doubtful about me, I can understand that." Aeris spoke out with that soft voice that further subjected his soul to a hail of warm darts. "But before doing anything, will you please bear with me even for a short while?"

Cloud maintained his strained stillness, prompting the last Ancient to go on.

"I I have been away, I know. I also know that I wasn't simply away. I was I died." She continued, her voice almost stumbling. "And because of that, I understand your reaction for seeing me like this, in front of you. Maybe if I werein your place and feeling the way you seem to be feeling maybe I'd react the same way.

"And I'm not gonna bother explaining to you how I came back. With uhh considering present circumstances, It really isn't that important as the reason why I did what I just did."

Again, the weakness in his heart begged Cloud to surrender. But almost at the same time, his doubt kicked back, beginning to fight hard anew in guarding his now fragile emotions.

"You can't expect me to believe all this, Ar whoever you are. Aeris died she died in my own arms. How can you expect me to buy all this?"

Bowing her head, the Ancient can only let out a resigned sigh after the words of unbelief Cloud uttered.

"How?"

"Hush" Aeris suddenly echoed, followed by the soft touch of her finger that kept Cloud's lips from further spewing out words that have been hurting her since they came face to face the morning previous.

Feeling her fingers against his lips, Cloud felt like crying. But his obstinate skepticism kept him from that frightful collapse.

Meanwhile, a momentary spell of hesitation nearly permeated through Aeris. She thought briefly, questioning the need for this thing she's has been deliberating on. 

She didn't want to do this, but it appears drastic measures are now needed.

And Cloud can only wonder in puzzlement when Aeris gently took his hands. He wanted to pull them back, but the soft and warm touch of her palm and fingers tenderly grasping his own became too much to resist for even his stubborn adherence to his incredulity. The tender warmth began to travel from his hands to his arms, bridging the gap of doubt between his will and his emotions, and eventually making its way to his heart which had now seen its defenses crumbled. Finally, Cloud relented, and just sat in anxious awe as Aeris brought his hands closer to her.

Then, to his utter surprise, she began unbuttoning the bottom portion of the white shirt she's wearing. In the stingy amount of moonlight permeating the dark stable, Cloud could easily see the fair and smooth contours of her skin, which are now beginning to expose itself. His heart began to pound like an abused bass drum...

And then nearly leapt to his throat when Aeris brought his quivering hands below, and touched the soft surface of her bare stomach with it. His chest now threatening to explode, Cloud held his breath nervously while feeling the smoothness of her skin running under his fingers. The heat emanating from them was intoxicating and almost electrifying, with pulses of throbbing desire now ominously battering against his helpless being.

And as if it wasn't enough for the breathless Cloud, Aeris began to slowly bring his hands higher.

----------

A cold and wet sensation suddenly broke Tifa off her sullen disposition. Lifting her head briefly, she mumbled incoherently while turning her pillow to bring the lower side on top. She forgot that she had already done this ritual earlier for the exact same reason, and thus felt the same damp coldness in her cheeks when it touched the tear-soaked fabric of the feather-stuffed pillow.

She ignored the inconvenient feeling eventually, and continued drenching the soft object with the tears running down from her eyes. Briefly allowing a respite from her burdened pondering, Tifa tried to think back and remember the last time that she cried in bed. 

A long, long time ago, after her mother died. She had yearned for solitude then, a desire that battled hard with her spontaneous want for someone to come and comfort her. She had her group of friends then, a pretentious squad that eventually abandoned her after a rather foolish impulse that left her in a near-death state down a deep ravine, with no one to turn to for help.

No one but him.

Tifa had since learned the precious state that came with Cloud's compassion. She had learned to cherish and nurture the special concern and treatment he regarded her. She had become his best friend, and that friendship was an essential force that carried her through the lowest times in her life. Even the one that ironically necessitated his absence. Though for even if Cloud wasn't beside her, she has always had that consoling hope that whenever something bad happens to her, he would always come rushing to her rescue.

And how Tifa wished for Cloud's pledge to hold true today.

She's not really physically in trouble, but the way her heart feels, Tifa thought she'd rather be facing a squad of ShinRa SOLDIER operatives than this ominous fear presently overwhelming her soul. And sadly, she can never really expect Cloud to come to her aid this time because he is the one in the center of her emotional mayhem. And that the dark creature giving her so much dread is the heartbreaking threat of his eventual departure.

A small yet vehement voice started hollering within her, demanding for Tifa to take action. Why is she allowing this to happen? Why doesn't she make a stand for herself? Wasn't Tifa the one who stood beside Cloud during his direst moments? Wasn't she the one who, at the possible expense of her own sanity, helped him in his gargantuan search for his real identity and ultimately led to finding his real self amidst a life-long trek of self-denial? Didn't she turn an understanding look at him when he expressed his desire of 'seeing' Aeris at her final resting place after they neutralized the threat of Meteor?

For all intents, Cloud owed her virtually his life, both literally and figuratively. If she wanted to, she can insist for his unreserved loyalty and fidelity. After what she went through for him, she certainly has the right to do just that.

But what would this insistence net her other than an empty pledge of faithfulness born of obligatory gratitude? If Cloud truly wanted to be with her, Tifa could never settle for any circumstance surrounding that purpose other than the pure, voluntary and emotionally driven intention. If she wants him to stay with her, it would have to be by his own accord.

She pondered deeply. Tifa knows only too well she loves him too much to impose her will on him. She'd rather nurture a broken heart while seeing him happy with the woman he truly loves than witness his misery with her. If she truly and genuinely loves him, she had to be prepared to let him go.

The thought ultimately brought an excruciating blow to her heart. But Tifa tried to endure it. For the sake of Cloud's happiness.

And yet, the decision of selflessness still wasn't enough to aid her toward a restful slumber. Tifa then decided to step out for some fresh air, subsequently finding herself groping in the dimly lit hallway en route to a quiet downstairs area where she felt a slight draft of cold air. 

Tip-toeing cautiously to the kitchen, she saw the back door widely open, suggesting that someone from inside the house had made an exit not too long ago. A frightening and foreboding feeling enveloped her psyche, one that compelled her to fight off the the urge to go back upstairs and check on Aeris' quarters. Tifa's fear was clear at that point: she was afraid to look into her friend's room and find no one there.

Still, for some form of curiosity similar to that which pushes a person to repetitively touch his wound no matter how much it hurts, Tifa opted towards knowing, once and for all, if her fears are truly founded on facts or not. She didn't even bother to wear a coat in the midst of the cold air whistling outside when she went off on the short walk going to the barn.

Her hands were shivering, but not from the cold, but rather from the sheer anxiety gripping her. Wondering with much dread, Tifa hesitated for a moment from pulling the barn door open.

But eventually, she did.

**End of Part Five**


	6. Part 6

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* * *

**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Six

The greatest of the great wars he had fought were all soul-consuming conflagrations that had nearly brought Cloud to a knee-folding surrender in more ways than one. He had been a self-reprising soldier, a freelance mercenary, and then a part of a resistance movement that aimed to exact vengeance against the power that was Shinra. His combat skills proved to be, in more than one occasion, the pivotal factor that decided the outcome of staggering battles and bitter confrontations. His Mako-infused body had been utilized to the limit to drive away the enemies of his peers. He knows how to fight. It had been his life for the most part of his years.

And Cloud has never felt more embattled before this moment, in this struggle between his heart wishful for its deep desire, and his mind that sought to protect him from the torment of want. His hands, now bereft of its weapon to which he had put much reliance on, are now being drenched in the sea of unmitigated longing. Under his defenseless fingers, the soft, smooth and warm contours of Aeris' bare skin are running, caressing his spirit with its irresistible heat.

His psyche nagged on him viciously, but toward what direction, he's no longer able to discern. A cacophony of dizzying visions and breathtaking pulses overwhelmed his head, which by now had been totally possessed by his heart's dictates to just lay his arms down in total surrender.

Cloud continued to feel feverish as his hand, aided by Aeris' touch, went on to traverse a path leading up. And he can only wonder with dread about the kind of sensation that will engulf him once those mounds of heavenly obstacle come in contact. A thrilling fright instantly sprouted inside him: how would it feel like when his touch finally reaches that point?

Of course, Cloud is not new to this kind of thing. And maybe that's the reason behind the sudden shame he felt for what appeared like a novice behavior of closing his eyes. He then opened them to the vision of Aeris' angelic face, with that expression of profound anticipation that almost bordered on that of anxious dread. He stared at her intently, as if trying to perceive the thoughts currently besieging her mind. Aeris stared back at Cloud, her eyes both expectant and somewhat fearful of something.

Inadvertently, memories of past events started flooding Cloud's mind. Remembering this same gentle visage in a myriad of expressions of joy, sadness, fear and anger, at the same time recalling the echoes of her voice that reflected such emotions. A vision of an old church in lower Midgar stood out, bringing back the time when the two of them first met, in the midst of Aeris' frantic escape from the clutches of a group of Turks bent on delivering her to the merciless hands of the late scientist Hojo.

He had been amused of her then, of her flirtatious yet strangely innocent proposal of offering herself for one night in exchange of his protection. Back then, Cloud became a bit torn between her unabashed behavior and the innocence inherent in that lovely face. He had wondered then about the meaning behind Aeris' utterance, of what exactly she had meant. Not that he was actually willing to oblige had she pointed on the allusion that would make most men jump up and down in the face of a smiling lady luck. She struck him with an image of too much innocence, and he couldn't possibly have taken advantage of that implicit message even if she had meant exactly that.

And he couldn't be more thankful for his reservation. Subsequent events revealed the value of holding back despite the slight disappointment it brought when Aeris offered him a room that was meant to be occupied by him alone. Notwithstanding the fact that Elmyra had asked him to leave without her knowing, in the back of his mind Cloud still somewhat wished for a tryst that was only typical of his manly nature. It warred with his sense of dignity, yes. But he is still, after all, only human.

But he wouldn't have her any other way. If Aeris did project an engaging behavior when they first met, subsequent instances attested to the sheer innocuous playfulness behind that act, and eventually displayed the incorruptibility of her character. Maybe that's the reason that pulled him in such a state of endearment toward this tender hearted Ancient. In his eyes, Aeris was the most fragile soul he has ever encountered. Her virtue is as pristine as an undisturbed snowfield and as picturesque as the first day of spring.

Now, she's leading his hands up to violate that same virtue. And his mind can only scream one thing:

This is not Aeris! The real Aeris would never do a thing like this!

"Get away from me!" Cloud suddenly snapped at Aeris while pulling his hand away. His abrupt awareness of the circumstances left a tinge of pasty taste in his mouth. He has never had a rude awakening more terrible than this.

"Cloud please listen to me" Aeris returned, stuttering with apparent shame. However, her feeling of dejection was already made complete when he promptly turned his back on her, a clear indication of his wish to end this suddenly detestable encounter.

"Please leave" He muttered bitterly, trying his best to maintain his composure despite the frustration. "Get out of here before I do something rash"

" Y-You don't understand, Cloud. You got this all"

"What would it take to drum it into your thick skull?" Cloud roared at the woman he believed to be counterfeit. "Aeris would never do something like this! She's simply much better than this. She's way beyond any need that necessitates this behavior. You should at least have done your homework before impersonating her!"

"'Impersonating'?" She then came back with a very uncharacteristic forcefulness. "'Impersonating'? What is that? A sorry excuse for an emotion that you refuse to yield to, Cloud? Why are you accusing me of this? Do you have any idea how much this hurts?"

"If you're at least half of the Aeris I know, you should at least have known that she would never resort to this thing!"

"WHAT?" The Ancient blurted out.

"Don't play dumb with me, Aer whoever you are. You know damn well what I mean."

"No. You just don't understand what I'm trying to do" Aeris cried out. 

And Cloud would have returned another scornful repartee if not for the tears he saw streaming down her flushed face. For one horrible moment, he felt his stubborn skepticism wanting to buckle in the midst of this scene unfolding before him. Ever since Cloud met Aeris, he had never been very good at dealing with her tears. More than anyone else, she had always been the unparalleled expert in melting his heart.

And this moment is by no means an exception.

Cloud thought wishfully, if she only had been the real Aeris

Or rather, if he can only bring himself to believe her as the real Aeris

And he wanted so desperately to believe

"I'm sorry" Aeris said while picking herself up. Her voice was thin and almost a whisper, apparently exhausted from the distress gripping her being.

She was in the act of buttoning her shirt when the door suddenly swung open. Startled, the pair simultaneously turned to the barn entrance to see Tifa staring dejectedly at them.

----------

The two heroic warriors marveled at the bizarre coincidence that brought them both back to this place at this very same moment. They consequently felt a haunting perplexity upon learning of their respective reasons for their impromptu journeys, which turned out to be almost identical. Thinking with unusual profoundness, the copper-shaded creature inadvertently turned his attention toward the lake basking the surroundings with its resplendent reflection of the moon staring at them from above. His thoughts started to wander, back to a similar moment of solemn quietude a year previous.

They buried their dear friend here, at this very spot, at that same lake. Their beloved friend, the one who wouldn't take no for an answer when offering her kindness. The one who used to pat him gently on the nose, something that used to give him much comfort. Sighing resoundingly, he can't help looking a little further back, when the cruel whims of an insane man of science imprisoned him together with that person for what he claimed to be a noble quest for knowledge. He can't avoid remembering how he gave her the fright that she definitely didn't deserve. 

His mind was clouded back then, probably due to the so-called medications that mad scientist had forcefully injected into his veins. And yet, the beast with the mind of a naïve altruist knew that despite his irrationality, the pure force of her kind heart penetrated him. This is one that he never revealed to any of his peers: how her utterly beautiful spirit restored his sanity. Still, he persisted on a way of the savage, if only to throw off his captor. But he knew then as he knows now, that even in the direst of circumstances, he would never lay even a single paw to hurt her.

In his own way, he loved her.

Especially the sweet twang of her voice. The voice that brought a rare kind of comfort in his heart that used to draw solace only from those of his kind or that of his grandfather. 

Her voice

A n unexpected awareness suddenly brought him out of his thoughtful trance. Turning back to the crimson-cloaked gunman, he echoed with much anxiety his theory of a hopeful possibility that maybe, just maybe, it was her who summoned him back to this place. It was the friend they lost that somehow managed to call on to both of them and made them trek back to her place of rest.

The mysterious man with the raven hair wondered aloud, a trait not typical of him. If she truly was the one whose voice resonated in their dreams and begged them to come here, what reason could she possibly have for doing so? 

More importantly, how was it made possible? They were both there in that tragic hour to witness her demise. They both mourned in unison with the heart-wrenching realization that they will never, ever see her face again or hear her voice again. They saw her die with their own eyes.

What manner of macabre mystery are they facing?

----------

"H-Hello?"

"Hey, Tifa? Reeve here. How's it going?"

"Hi, Reeve. I'm fine, I guess. Still hangin' on."

"Good to hear that. By the way, is Cloud there?"

"Uhh I'm not sure if he's already up. Give me a minute to check"  


"Okay, thanks Hey, wait a minute, Tif."

"Yeah?"

"I don't wanna sound nosy and all, but are you crying?"

"N-No whatever made you say that?"

"Come on, Tif. You can tell me. What's going on?"

She would have stopped her weeping if Reeve hadn't noticed it. And Tifa had to bring the PHS device away from her face just to keep him from hearing the consecutive gasping sounds emanating from her mouth as another wave of bitter emotions welled out from her. But she knew she couldn't hide her dejected state anymore after leaving him on hold for close to a minute.

"R-Reeve"

"Tif, what's happening to you?"

" Sorry" she tried to utter in between muffled wails. "B-But I can't talk right now. Can you like call back a little later?"

Reeve was rendered speechless, and didn't know what to say while hearing her pitifully broken voice.

" Please?"

"Alright just take it easy, okay? And call me when you're ready to talk."

But Tifa wasn't able to hear the last part of Reeve's sentence anymore, as she was so taken anew by her sadness that she felt she just had to turn off the communication device. Spending a few moments to release the weight in her chest, the somber lass then continued folding her clothes neatly and stuffing them inside a huge duffel bag.

**End of Part Six**


	7. Part 7

**

* * *

**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Seven

The possibility of the lost Ancient calling from the after-life to summon them is in itself, mind-boggling. But the man with the gun is more concerned, if the theory is correct, with the reason behind the mystery. Besides, he deliberated, the concept of a return from the dead isn't entirely an impossibility for him. He had always believed himself to be someone with that arcane distinction.

However, he could only fall in a state of deep thought. And though his chary contemplation can't seem to produce any feasible explanation to all this unexplained events, he nevertheless wisely realized a renewed sense of urgency owing to his belief that no mystery is without a pressing cause. Regardless of whatever or whoever it is that brought the two of them here to this place of bereavement, he must know the reason behind it as soon as possible.

And as if responding to his unsettling concerns, the encapsulated paradise of solemn silence, amply illuminated by the strangely radiant walls of white ice along its borders, was suddenly cast in a dark shadow. Looking up, the warrior pair failed to see anything or hear anything that may have caused the caliginous shade, though they did notice the anomaly along the crystal walls, with its shimmering luster appearing to fade away.

A strange odor then filled the air. But this is a different kind of grim whiff, smelt not by the perceptive recesses of their olfactory instruments but rather by the quivering senses in their souls. The air was indeed reeking with hatred, with its vile aroma easily absorbed by their vigilant spirits.

Evil is afoot. A kind of unheeding evil that bears no respect to the inviolability of this holy ground. It seemed to take a cue from the watchful pair and consequently started to manifest its frightful malevolence. Next thing they knew, the shadows littering the Forgotten City have begun to move, a soundless yet disturbed undulation that seemed to have an intent of surrounding them. The darkness then began to mix with the light, swirling in a slow maelstrom around the alarmed duo as if intending to swallow them. 

Consequently, the copper beast and the black-garbed mystery man quickly revealed their weapons, cocking and sliding them into readiness. And though gripped by ominous fear, they quickly settled down to a familiar disposition. This isn't exactly the first time they're faced with a bleak circumstance such as this.

But they were not expecting a cognizance this infernal. Suddenly, the crimson-cloaked gunman balled up in pain as he was gripped by the searing specter of a murderous awareness. At the same time, the beast with the glowing tail became overwhelmed with the most troubling thought that ever entered his mind. Owing to the tutelage of his grandfather, the son of the proud warrior turned to stone in defense of his people had of recent, elevated his sensitivity to the voice of the planet to such unprecedented levels. He used to be thankful for that unusual gift, and vowed then to use it to further his protection of the world they once rescued from the clutches of a demented demigod. 

Now, he's wishing that he never learned to attune his spirit with the essence of his world. The heroic creature felt his blood freeze with that dismal and terrifying perception. Below their feet, the ground started to shake and tremble. Inside his mind, he heard the planet crying out desperately, undoubtedly out of harrowing pain.

The Lifestream. In itself a river of pure energy born of the unified life forces of those who once lived, it serves as the mighty source of the planet's essence and vigor. A life-giving ocean that, at this very moment, seemed to be hollering for help. He turned his senses inward, to the deepest pits of his connected being and consequently winced in horror.

The Lifestream is hemorrhaging, its very quintessence slowly being torn asunder. The Lifestream is dying.

----------

"What's the meaning of this?"

Tifa was almost startled by Cloud's sudden arrival, which made it impossible for her to conceal the large bag she was currently stuffing with her clothes. At first she didn't know what to say in the midst of his grimly questioning look, unsure whether to feel guilty or ashamed of what she's doing that appears to be total abandonment.

But just as quickly, the hurt of the previous night's scene she inadvertently stumbled upon gave her a renewed resolve, pushing her to continue with her packing chore. On the other hand, Cloud, despite his question, somewhat knew why she's doing this. As he stood in front of her, he can't help feeling a sense of disarray. Whether he expected this or not, the threat of seeing Tifa walk out of his life terrified him.

"Is this about last night?"

Funny question, thought Cloud to himself. Of course it's about last night. And if it hadn't been to the gravity of the circumstances, he would have half-expected Tifa to laugh at his thoughtless quip.

And to his credit, she almost did.

"Hmph" she scoffed. "That's what I like about you. Even when you're making me cry, you can still manage to make me laugh."

She then continued packing. And Cloud again started feeling his heart being eaten away by dreadful grief. He didn't know where to start, but he knows that he should do something. 

But for one confusing moment, Cloud felt like asking himself why. Why is he afraid of losing Tifa?

Isn't he grievously enamored enough by the memories of a lost beloved? Isn't it true that the flood of aggravating situations that besieged them all during the last twenty-four hours brought an awareness, free of doubt, that his heart is still longing for someone else? If he's so obsessed with Aeris, why is he feeling this terrible sense of deep loss in seeing Tifa's impending departure?

Where is this fear coming from? 

"I thought that you understand?" Cloud unwittingly voiced out. Looking back at his question a split-second later, he realized the telltale stench of utter selfishness in those demanding little words. If he happened to be in Tifa's place, he would already have hurled himself out the window. Fortunately, Tifa isn't as vindictive as he is.

"Yes, I do." She subsequently returned. "I've always understood you, Cloud. And I've always respected the bond between you and Aeris. If anything, I know that that is something I can never bring myself to severe, even if I wanted to."

"Then why are you leaving?" His mind echoed. A question that he prevented from voicing out due to its equally self-centered tone.

"But don't worry, Cloud. I don't have any plans whatsoever of going between you and Aeris." Tifa said anew with a firmer tone that she fought so hard to muster. "Nor am I regarding any kind of ill-feelings toward the two of you. I just thought that maybe, I need to leave to make it easier on all of us."

He didn't talk back, but not exactly because he wanted her to further the words that have been pitilessly stabbing into his heart. But he didn't know what he wanted either. He can't stop asking himself questions. What does he really want? Why is he feeling scared? What can he do to make Tifa stay? 

What did she mean by making this easy on everyone?

"What do you mean by making this easy on everyone? Do you think that your leaving would solve all our problems? Do you think running away would help us all find a solution?"

He knew immediately after that he shouldn't have added that last question, which sounded like a cheap attempt of hiding another self-seeking intent that he has been battling to suppress, with not much headway.

"Running away? Cloud, what do you want me to do? Do not overestimate me, okay? I may have said that I understand you. And I meant it, I really do. But that doesn't mean I can't be hurt anymore by what I will be seeing in the days to come if ever I decide not to leave. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or anything but last night was only the start."

But he doesn't believe that girl to be the real Aeris. At least that's what he's been insisting to himself. He'd insist it with Tifa as well if he didn't know her enough to know that she is not going to accept his paranoid idiosyncrasies. Not that he'd call it that himself. But he's sure other people will.

"Besides" Tifa continued. "If there will ever be any chance of you and Aeris being together, it will never happen as long as I'm around, even if I don't do jack to interfere. I know Aeris too much, like you. And I can very well expect that even if she wanted to be with you, she wouldn't have it as long as she knows of my feelings. And the only way to solve that is for me to go away."

"Hey wait just a minute!" Cloud suddenly blurted out. "Why are you talking like this? You're spitting out all this bullshit as if you're implying that I never loved you! This is not fair, Tifa!"

He stepped back after that rather unnecessarily forceful repartee, worried of what it might bring the already embattled lass. But the smile that came out of her pretty face surprised him.

"I know that you love me, Cloud." Tifa echoed softly. "I know, and I can never thank you enough. And I love you too you know I do."

Cloud nearly covered his ears out of his fear of her next remark. And he wasn't by any way mistaken.

"That's why I'm doing this."

Standing up from her spot by the edge of her bed, Tifa nonchalantly opened the last of the unemptied closet to pull out the remaining articles that she hasn't packed yet. A metallic echo reverberated when a small trinket fell from the pile of clothes she picked up from the shelf. Bending down to pick up the small object, Tifa's heart almost burst anew with the subsequent recognition and the memory that came with it.

Cloud saw the brilliant twinkling in Tifa's hands and subsequently recognized the engagement ring he gave her a few months ago. One that she returned to him after perceiving the want that is the cause of this sullen morning's series of events.

Tifa then looked at him, somewhat sheepishly.

"I'm sorry" she began with a cute smirk. "I know I already gave it back to you. But I decided I wanna hold on to it until the time comes when you know Are you angry with me?"

"No Not at all" Cloud said, almost absentmindedly. With his thoughts in shambles brought about by this tearing dilemma, the last thing he needed to see was a symbol of Tifa's lingering desire to still be with him in spite of his uncertainty. And what could be more incriminating that her invading his private domain to steal' the ring that brought so much tears of joy out of her eyes when he first slipped it into her fingers?

Cloud felt like hitting himself with a huge club.

"But I suppose it's kinda pointless to hold on to this now, isn't it?"

He then wished he could just die.

"Here" Tifa muttered while handing him back the ring. Cloud was then already contemplating on bungee jumping minus the rope. Subsequently, he could have sworn he felt his head almost blew up when she kissed him on the cheeks, with what sounded like a sincere request.

" Take care of my friend"

----------

She can't help thinking that what she did the night previous was a trifle overboard, and rather uncalled for. But during that time, Aeris thought she just had to do something to break into Cloud's barrier of suspicion. She had been hell-bent in winning his trust that she was led to a belief that the only way for that to happen was to open herself up to him. But was that extent really necessary? The Ancient can only wonder.

But wondering on things that may or may not have resulted into fruitful results has become a moot point considering the unforeseen factors that became evident. She never counted on Tifa happening to them just when she was about to puncture through his shell. Aeris was so hopeful and expectant of her maneuver that the sudden arrival of the other left her in a somewhat distasteful state of frustration. Pondering in this light, she became quite surprised at herself and the train of thoughts traversing through her mind. Is this annoyance that she's feeling? Maybe. She was almost there, she has nearly completed her objective. And Tifa had to ruin everything by barging in to disrupt her plan.

Aeris subsequently winced in self-reprising torment. What kind of thought is this permeating through her mind? What right does she have of blaming one who in her heart really had no intentions, nor inclinations of upholding a self-centered claim? How could she have entertained such dishonorable thoughts when at this very moment, all she can sense from the erstwhile object of her involuntary ire is right inside that room, ceding her claim with no trace of egotism whatsoever yet at the same time inundated with the sting of hapless defeat?

Tifa was not to blame, Aeris thought. If there is one who should really be credited for the fault, it has to be her, for her inadequacy. But then, coming down hard on herself is, in the same manner, not the most advisable way to go in light of present circumstances. It has already been weeks since her return. And it's taking way too long than she had previously estimated.

A deep feeling of cold fear suddenly took hold of Aeris with the awareness that she is indeed, running out of time.

**End of Part Seven**


	8. Part 8

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A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

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Part Eight

"Hi there, little girl."

Marlene looked up to the sight of unfamiliar faces. However, her lack of concern for anything save the table of inanimate guests that she's having an imaginary tea party with just beyond the wide yard of their house made her turn a deaf ear to that perky greeting issued by the stranger. She turned her attention back to her dolls, unmindful of her suspicious visitors.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" The leader of the pack reechoed. Again, the little girl looked at them, then looked away nonchalantly.

"You're not a very nice girl, are you."

"That's not true." She finally spoke. "My uncle Cloud said I'm the nicest girl in the whole world even though my dad is very rude."

"And what's your dad's name?"

Nothing returned to the man's seemingly harmless inquiry. Breathing deeply, he clenched his teeth hard, trying to resist the urge to unleash his annoyance at Marlene's lack of interest.

"Didn't your parents taught you to respect people older than you?"

"Yeah. But they also told me never to talk to strangers."

"Oh, I'm not a stranger." The man inside a black overalls came back. "I'm a good friend of your dad's."

"If you're daddy's friend, then why are you asking me his name? Aren't friends supposed to know each other's names?"

"Y-Yeah I do know his name." The man stammered, somewhat feeling cornered after his rather thoughtless remark. "I was just testing to see if you are my friend's daughter."

Marlene tossed a playful grin at the stranger while replying. "Of course I know my dad's name. It's it's Barret! Yes, it's Barret."

"Oh, thanks, honey." He finally shot out with an evil smirk in his battle-roughened face. "That's all I need to know."

----------

The swirling mass of black and green has already made a towering wall of picturesque malevolence around them. Thinking wildly, the snarling beast with the lighted tail hurled his one-eyed glare toward the top of the maelstrom, which was becoming more and more violent with each passing second. Behind him, an equally alarmed gunman was reaching into his pocket, from where he produced a familiar device, one that he extensively used in communicating with his erstwhile comrades a year ago.

He tapped frenetically on the green button, then sighed with frustration upon realizing that the whirlpool of energy surrounding them was also blocking the signals coming in and out of the communication device.

Not knowing what to do, the stalwart duo remained unmoving while the wall of stormy energy raged around them seemingly dreadful and yet strangely inert, as if in all its fury, some force is keeping it from touching them. Not a few moments passed when the energy turbulence subsided to afford them a brief respite. But the unexpected relief easily dissipated when low, rumbling noises once again emanated from the ground below them. 

To their horror, streams of life essences started to seep out from tiny fissures in the ground. The rivers of ribbon-like forces looked extremely familiar inadvertently reminding the two of a scene they witnessed a year before: of these same streams of life coming out from the very heart of the world itself to do its part in saving the planet. They knew it was the Lifestream, that much is unmistakable.

But as for the hows and the whys, they didn't know. Or maybe they weren't worried about it as much as they were with the intertwining streaks of red mixed with the green emanations. A sign of a hurting planet? Is this the breach that they felt earlier the one that brought about that vengeful reaction that almost snuffed the life out of them?

They can only ponder in horror regarding the forces bringing about this grisly turn of events. But whatever it is that's behind it, the mere fact that it's getting this much attention from the planet frightened the pair. They know quite well what could possibly happen in the midst of this supernaturally sentient world crying out as if it's languishing under a force that it cannot repulse. They both are horridly familiar with the legends legends spawned by a hurting world. Legends they've once seen with their own eyes, of unstoppable creations that nearly killed them once upon a time.

And as if confirming their grim suspicion, a blood-curdling roar suddenly tore through the restless void.

----------

It had been a half hour since Tifa left, and Cloud was still standing outside the front door of the house, staring at the spot down up dirt road where she disappeared from his sight. He still didn't know what to think. He knows he's sad, it's probably only the natural thing to feel in a situation like this when someone close to a person should depart like this. But his sadness isn't so much due to Tifa's departure, as it seems to be with the fact that he never really tried to stop her. And even though he wanted to pretend to know the answer to alleviate his confused state, Cloud just couldn't do so. The shock of the circumstances and his own unrelenting doubt was rendering things too impossible for him to rationalize his actions without cringing in excruciating guilt. He just can't explain it, how he wanted badly for Tifa to stay, and yet felt a kind of relief that makes him want to hit his head against the hardest surface that he could find. She just walked out of his life, because of his uncertainty. Cloud wanted to think about the possible repercussions, like if this single event will bring an incurable poison of regret in his heart or not.

On the other hand, here's someone whose gentle face has ironically been subjecting his heart to a kind of hell much worse than that brought about by the self-denial he punished himself with a long time ago. Claiming the name of the one hopelessly endeared in his heart, she brought another wave of storm in his life, one that first churned into his being a year ago with the sight of his beloved Ancient giving up her last breath while enclosed in his numbing arms. For the last day and a half, Cloud had been treating her with all the contempt he could muster, as if wanting to teach her a lesson for desecrating the appearance that he held so dear.

She had the temerity to call herself Aeris. And for that, he was furious. His rage knew almost no bounds, something that he's so afraid of finally unleashing lest it engulfs not only her, but everyone around him as well. But then, he had been starting to ask, is this rage truly reared on the one he had been accusing of impersonation? Or on himself for refusing to accept a bitterness born of a different kind of anger?

"Tifa once told me about your voyage through your own self-discovery, Cloud." A voice reverberated from behind him. "She didn't try to expound on it because we never had enough time, but I can tell it must have been a very hard thing for you."

"Elmyra I didn't hear you coming." He turned, unable to hide his startled look. 

"What was it then, Cloud?" the older woman spoke while ignoring his remark. "What were you afraid to face then that it had to take a near-death experience to knock you into your senses?"

"I I don't know"

"You know, Cloud. You already have come to terms with it, haven't you? I know you have. And that's why I'm wondering right now why are you doing this to yourself again? What are you afraid of?"

Cloud remained still, his being tormented by Elmyra's sharp words. Or rather, by the truth contained in those words.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Being Being hurt"

"Aren't we all?"

She's right, he thought. He hated to concede to it, but he knows Elmyra was right without contest. And that brought an even more tormenting grip of guilt in him. But however he wanted to release himself from a perennial penchant for self-denial whenever he found the need to protect himself, Cloud can only surrender in utter dismay to the fact that he had, again, immersed himself too deeply in his illusion. Such that he doesn't know anymore which one is the mirage and which is not. All he knows is that he was hurt and he was angry. 

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Cloud? Why are you doing this to the people closest to you? If you truly do not believe that Aeris is back with us, why did you allow Tifa to walk away?"

Cloud asked inside him: why can't she understand? Why can't Elmyra see it from his perspective? Doesn't she know how much he loved her? Isn't she aware of the kind of hurt he had to weather when she died?

No, she didn't. As a matter of fact, Elmyra had no idea. She can't possibly perceive the terrible affection he regarded her when she was still alive.

And for that matter, so was Cloud. He had no idea just how much he loved Aeris. He adored her so much, up to the point of holding the pain in his heart sacred because it's the only thing that connected him with her when she died. A pain that he refused to let go, a pain whose every throe brings him back to the time when she was beside him. Laughing, giggling, smiling, poking his side and throwing her fragrant hair at him. This pain was Aeris. And that was the only one he knew.

Feeling the hurt is loving Aeris over and over again. And that is why Cloud allowed Tifa to leave. He had to be fair to her. Though he truly did love her, she just cannot compete with a rival whose real essence is buried deep inside his being. A competition that cannot be excised that he doesn't want to excise. This stinging sensation embedded deep in his heart that he just refused to liberate and he would defend with his life if need be. Is he living in another world of denial? That he may be. But he didn't care anymore. All Cloud knew was Aeris' presence through the wound in his soul.

Cloud sighed quietly. If only she hadn't died, he wouldn't have to content himself with just the wound. If only she had stayed with him, he wouldn't have to contend with the doubt and uncertainty brought about by her absence. He would never have settled in accepting her loss and holding on to her memories. That same face would have been real to him.

"Cloud I" Aeris opened nervously. She was promptly met with a disappointing turn of his head to the opposite direction.

Biting her lips in silent despondence, Aeris motioned for her adopted mother to leave them before turning her welling eyes to Cloud. She tried to speak again, her lips desperate to make him believe her words. But the ordeal she went through somewhat rendered all words elusive from her craving heart. Yet still, she tried.

"I'm sorry about Tifa"

"Heh" He scoffed disdainfully. "For once, I won't hold that against you. Tifa leaving wasn't really your fault, but mine. You see, even before you came, we had been sailing through rough waters because of y because of Aeris. Everything was already set to explode, and all you did was speed up the timer."

"Yeah But if I hadn't come If I didn't do what I tried to do last n"

"What you did last night? If I didn't know better, I'd think you really are out to sabotage us. But don't feel bad. Like I said, you were only a catalyst. This thing started way before when I when I started remembering her again" Cloud answered, the look in his eyes subsequently softening, as if getting ready to weep. Seeing this, Aeris felt a sudden surge of hope in her that pushed her to step toward him.

"Don't." Cloud suddenly snapped at her. "Not after last night. You just couldn't possibly salvage the situation. Not anymore."

Tears were already flowing down in torrents from Aeris' tortured green eyes as she walked away from Cloud. And even though desperate in trying to avoid aggravating her grief, she can't avoid looking back at what she did the previous night. It was an act that she honestly thought would have finally won Cloud's trust if it hadn't been abruptly intermitted. But Aeris really didn't care anymore. With the way things are going, it looked to her like she may have to be forced into going back to her restless rest, with the prospect of seeing everyone and everything around her regressed to nothingness beneath the tortured struggles of a planet desperately trying to fight back and unknowingly beginning to destroy itself.

But the threat of a dying world still, for her, is easily dwarfed by the pain of Cloud's rejection.

**End of Part Eight**


	9. Part 9

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A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Nine

He definitely didn't like what he heard. And one slight glance around the restless surroundings of the now beleaguered aerie easily told him that there is something terrible something utterly gruesome, rapidly making its way towards them. Looking at his gun-wielding partner, the beast with one working eye roared his apprehension that was easily understood by the gunslinger. They trained their eyes up, only to witness the collapse of the Forgotten City's once coveted placidity.

The hair-raising vociferation echoed once more, further agitating the pair. If they could only do so, they would have already zeroed in on the source of the tortured wail. Inside the back of his mind, the gunslinger recalled a memory of the same resonance that assaulted his ears when he faced the creature coated with diamond.

But his reminiscing was abruptly interrupted by shrill cries echoing from behind. They turn and witness the terrifying form of a six-armed creature whose appearance seemed to suggest its origination from beyond the grave. The copper-coated predator groaned in exasperation, muttering under his breath that the last thing he needed right now is an encounter with a savage Zombie Dragon. Checking his accouterment of Materia, the proud creature turned to the cloaked warrior, as if waiting for a decision. He nodded back, as if giving a concurrence to their need to put up a fight.

Without warning, the beast lunged at the hostile monster, his claws fully extended and shimmering with its deadly splendor. Not used to being beaten at the first move, the monster reeled back in pain after multiple lacerations sliced through its decaying armored skin. And before the enemy could react, the one with the glowing tail hurled himself anew, this time sinking his sharp fangs into the startled dragon's neck. It hollered and shrieked in pain, ferociously swinging the whole of its body about in trying to shake his tormentor off him. One mighty heave met with success, and consequently hurled the four-legged warrior into the water.

Hissing fiercely, the Zombie Dragon then turned to the one wielding the rifle. But the red-cloaked stranger was quick, and promptly displayed his speed in one deft move that brought the muzzle of his gun in front of the charging monster's face. A loud explosion echoed, followed by a pitiful holler emanating from the hurting dragon with a bullet wedged deep inside its head. Flailing its arms about, the blinded creature then went crashing down on its face as the lion pounced on him from behind. But just as easily as he fell, the creature got up anew, again throwing off the copper-coated beast that slammed hard into his partner. Enraged, the dragon followed up with an Ultima attack, knocking the wind out from his two opponents.

Staggering back from the powerful spell, the gunslinger tried to fight off the nauseating concussion he was feeling, struggling hard to echo a command that subsequently called forth the wrath of the legendary sea serpent. Snarling and hissing ferociously, the water creature in turn called on to the destructive might of a gigantic tsunami that pummeled the Zombie Dragon with its aquatic malevolence. The summon attack was then followed by the lion beast's favorite assault: a hail of stellar matter that he conjured from the heavens to bombard the violent monster with non-elemental fury. Dazed from the damage it absorbed, the dragon then went the way uncharacteristic of its feral nature, and quickly fled from the battlefield.

But not by any means did it bring relief to the two warriors. For as sure as they were that the strange phenomenon besieging this hallowed ground is just beginning to unravel, they also know that the past encounter was merely the first in a series of battles they must weather if they wish to find the answer to the haunting mystery lying in front of them.

----------

She wouldn't have had it any other way. Looking back at the direction whence she came from, Tifa didn't know exactly what to feel with regards to her sudden decision to leave. Part of her was questioning herself if what she did was just an infantile reaction to hide the fact that she can't deal with the imminent defeat in the face of Cloud's harried behavior amidst the circumstances surrounding Aeris' return. Maybe in the back of her mind, Tifa knew better than to turn a face of naivete toward a possible occurrence that will cast a shadow of doubt to the possibility of spending a life with Cloud. She knew better than to continue on smugly, without any expectation of some event similar to this that will eventually jostle their otherwise quiet relationship.

And though the apparent resurrection of a deceased friend came as a big shock to her, in the end it merely equated to the one thing that had been bothering her ever since she started noticing her beau's troubled demeanor a few months back. Even in death, Tifa had no choice but to concede to the fact that she can never compete against Aeris. Yes, she knows that Cloud loves her. But she's also painfully aware of the different, and rather more potent nature of his feelings for the Ancient. This was something that Tifa learned to respect from the day she was rescued by the two from the clutches of a flesh-crazed Don Corneo. Looking back to that day one, she remembered how Cloud gazed at Aeris, and consequently was reminded of the chill she felt at that moment. Tifa just couldn't remember an instant when Cloud looked at her in the same manner.

From the start, she knew that she had already lost him to Aeris. And her death did not by any stretch of the imagination change that truth. Clutching her chest, Tifa silently wished that she was the one who had to give her life for the planet's survival.

But she was no Ancient. Only an Ancient could have the chance to make that noble a sacrifice. Only an Ancient equipped with that uncanny sensitivity to the quiet sobs of a hurting planet

Perhaps that's it! If she had been an Ancient, would Cloud love her the same way? Chuckling bitterly, Tifa shrugged in quickly dismissing that shallow theory. How silly can anyone get in thinking something as superficial as that?

Or maybe, she thought, maybe it's the fact that Aeris died. Not the act of dying itself, but rather the biting absence that naturally came after that. It's widely believed that only a person will only realize how important something is to him when that something goes away, never to return again. Maybe that's what hit Cloud, Aeris' absence.

She scoffed once more. Perhaps, now that she's left him, Cloud will now miss her. And perhaps, after that a day will come when he'll realize that he loves her more than he does Aeris. She had, after all, always been by his side ever since they reunited in Midgar just before that reactor sabotage job. Tifa had always been there for him, and never really gave him much of a chance to miss her at all. And thus given, this abrupt departure might just work to her advantage.

Silly. Stupid. Senile.

Stick to the plan, Tifa nagged herself. Adhere to the truth that the reason she left was the same, perennial reason why anyone would walk away after handing the victory trophy to their greatest rival and then turning their back in refusing to behold the celebration. It may be a bitter pill to swallow but that's the truth, she thought. She didn't want to be anywhere within one hundred miles of them once they got to the point of actually consummating their relationship. And in her mind, that is one thing that cannot be avoided.

Nevermind the innately noble appearance of making a sacrifice for the sake of one's true love. Of course, it's always a factor. She's always wanted Cloud to gain happiness, most of the time even at the expense of her own. And it's really no different in this situation, with the only exception being she doesn't think she'd be able to take seeing him happy in the arms of another woman, even though she may be her friend.

Then, there's always the ultimate test of one heart inclined on sacrifice. If you love someone, let him go. If he comes back to you, he's yours for the keeping. If not, he was never yours to start with.

Tifa could almost die in the dreadful price this test may cost her. But not only is this the soundest thing to do. Right now, this is also the only thing left to do.

What if it turned out the he was never hers in the first place?

For the umpteenth time, the raven-haired former bargirl struggled to keep her tears at bay. Almost misting in her melancholy, her eyes then happened on a glint in the near distance that caught her attention.

----------

"What do you mean Marlene's missing?" Cloud vehemently returned a question to Elmyra. "Have you tried looking for her?"

"Yes yes I have" the older woman replied, almost in tears. "I can't find her everywhere. My goodness, how am I gonna tell Barret about this?"

"Hey mom, don't worry." Aeris tenderly echoed while touching her adoptive mother's quivering hands. "I'm sure she's just around town somewhere Hey, your hands are shaking!"

"Aeris dear some people told me that they saw Marlene with four strange men wearing navy blue"

"What?!?" Cloud snapped out upon hearing the color description. "Navy blue? Could could they be Turks?"

"Why would the Turks abduct Marlene, Cloud?" Aeris said, eliciting a suspicious look from the spiky-haired warrior. "I thought Tifa said you guys have struck on some kind of a truce juts before Midgar fell."

"You of all people should know that we can never be certain of anything when the Turks are involved." He returned almost sarcastically, and with a voice that was definitely reeking with distrust. Aeris simply turned away in dejection, then opted to dismiss the knot in her throat as she turned her attention back to Elmyra.

"Mom, did they tell you where these men took Marlene?"

"They said they were heading in the direction of Mount Nibel, but that was almost an hour ago." Elmyra's broken voice came back. "Can't we do anything about this?"

"Of course we can, Elmyra." Cloud quipped back. "Just stay here, I'm gonna go look for her."

"Cloud, I'm coming with you."

He turned back to Aeris, his eyes squinting with even more cynicism as they bore into hers quizzically. But he almost regretted looking straight into her face again, with those familiar, green eyes that once enchanted his heart like no other's ever did. For a moment, as he gazed at her, his facial hue almost gave in to its familiarly soft look, the expression he always regarded the Aeris he once knew. And at the next moment, he felt his conviction warring once more.

Cloud shook his head in exasperation. This isn't the right time to be thinking about his dilemma. And he was just about to reject her offer when an idea came to mind.

He was the one who taught her most of what she knows in fighting. If there is any credibility at all to her claims of being the real Aeris, all it may take is one intense battle to prove or disprove her claim. Once he sees her in action, he will know.

"Alright. Gather your gear quickly. We leave in five minutes."

----------

His ears rang painfully, a cacophony of excruciating throes and throbs of high-pitched resonance that came from the sharp edge of mystically forged steel making up the length of an Iron Giant's sword. It missed him by mere inches, a negligible measure that would have spelled doom for the gunman had he been less alert of the unusual circumstances that brought forth this monster. He wanted to expend a second to wonder about the anomaly of the creature's presence. As far as he knows, malevolent entities like this abound only near the lower recesses of the planet's hollow shell. What is it doing up here, on the surface?

Rolling back to his battle stance, the mysterious gunslinger unloaded a Flare attack against the metallic behemoth to buy him some time for a temporary escape. Recoiling from the solar assault, the Iron Giant quickly retaliated with another deathly swing, only to find his target already a couple of feet away. Quickly cocking the Death Penalty, he then unloaded another round in between the iron-guarded foe's eyes. The bullet ricocheted off the tough metallic hide, but it was enough to create a knock-back effect that ruined its balance. 

Complementing the gunslinger's maneuver, the snarling lion beast hurled himself hard against the giant's chest and used its paws in pounding on it with all his might. A loud crash emanated as the Iron Giant fell on its back hard, sending out a blunt shockwave that jostled the already chaotic environment. Quickly getting up on his feet, the raven-locked warrior once more regrouped with his feral comrade, preparing for the worst as they watched the enemy struggling to hoist itself up. 

However, a darkened vortex suddenly opened in front of the armored monster. A Cimmerian maw that eventually spewed forth the vengeful figure of the mythical executioner. He briefly stared down at he enemy, as if mocking its efforts to hold its ground. Then with a mighty heave, the summoned helper launched his Gunge Lance into the air. It rose up, higher than any mortal eye could possibly see. In the process parting the thick clouds that lie in its path. Subsequently achieving the peak of its ascent, it then started its fall, tipping its sharp arrowhead down as it plummeted mercilessly toward the pinned adversary. The carnage culminated in an ear-splitting howl coming from a dying Iron Giant that was skewered by the vengeful spear.

Another battle has been won, but the war rages on. Drawing no respite from their victory, the pair then turned their attentions anew to the source of the tortured echoes, which by now have assumed the frightful pitch of a million agonizing souls desperately begging to be relieved of their pain. To their horror, the sound now seemed centered on the swirling maelstrom that was engulfing them earlier. Appearing like a natural tornado, the conflagration of spinning green energy has now affixed itself over the lake that was once so pristine and peaceful. 

The lion beast groaned, as if in pain. His heightened sensitivity to the planet's ominous voice now coming to fore. And he didn't like what he heard: the night cries of a tormented and wounded world. His horror was already indescribable, and yet it still had to be aggravated by a separating resonance that clearly indicated the presence of an avenging spirit bent on exacting retribution for its parent-world. Sensing the second anomaly himself, the gunslinger's usually placid face likewise became awash with unheard of terror. The cries of the planet have now been joined with a roar promising unmerciful revenge. 

At the center of the verdant vortex, a malevolent shape began to solidify. They never thought it possible. But now, it appears they are in for the fight of their lives as their horrified eyes witness the birth of a new Weapon.

**End of Part Nine**


	10. Part 10

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**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Ten

The dankness of the path connecting the quiet town of Nibelheim to the enigmatic ranges of Mount Nibel was something Cloud thought he would never get acclimated to. He had been here countless times, too many for his liking. It was here that he first tasted real horror in the midst of his harrowing experience with Tifa all those years ago. He can still remember the distraught face of a girl seeking solace after her mother passed from this world on to the next. The bitter taste in his mouth still lingered, perhaps a permanent mark left by that excruciating episode. The rejection of her peers, the plunge down the deep gorge, the sheer sharpness of accusing eyes that bore down on him from those who refused to accept his account of the events.

That was the first time that Tifa almost died before his very eyes. The first time that he felt his soul overwhelmed by blood-curdling fear. He thought he was going to lose her then.

Has he lost her now?

He shook his head, vehemently asserting to himself the urgency of the situation at hand and how his personal concerns had to take a back seat. He almost succeeded, if it not have been for that casual side-glance that brought to his eyes the unsuspecting impression on Aeris' face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She said, bringing a sudden fit of shame to the spiky-haired warrior. 

He tried to ignore her, but Aeris was not to be denied this time.

"I know what you're thinking. You're still wondering about me, and how I was able to fake 'your' Aeris."

"This is not the right time to talk about this."

Aeris clenched her teeth in frustration. At this moment, the only thing she wanted to do was lash out at Cloud for his utter insensitivity. She wanted to understand him, the pain that must have lingered in his heart when she departed. Aeris had to accept the surprise she felt after learning about Cloud's misery. She never expected him to be struck so hard. Perhaps that's why she's trying to understand him as much as she can. She was even elated to some degree. This kind of love was foreign to her, something that not even the raven-haired boy she once regarded so highly revered her absence with this much impact.

But even the most patient of souls has its limits. And if not for the pressing matter at hand, she would have surely opted to unleash her ire on the one who stubbornly insisted on rejecting her. There's only so much Aeris can take.

"Fine." She echoed with a not-so-typical hardness in her voice. "You know what, let's just forget about this whole thing. I promise I won't bother you anymore after we find Marlene.

Cloud felt his heart skip a beat after that dejected utterance from Aeris. For some reason, he became somewhat fearful of the possible meaning behind those bitter words. And for the first time since all of these started, he felt repentant for having treated her with much impertinence during the past two days.

The rest of the trek went on in complete silence, with neither one of the two willing to speak out for fear that whatever words they say will only worsen the already bludgeoning state they're in. Not a few hours elapsed when Cloud and Aeris caught site of a dismal structure standing just past the hanging bridge over the dreaded ravine. Exercising standard caution, Cloud signaled his companion to stay on her spot while he carefully proceeded for a closer look. Just a couple of yards from his position stood the old Shinra Mako reactor an edifice that subsequently brought forth a flood of ugly memories.

The second time he saw Tifa almost succumb to the call of death.

"Damn" Cloud mumbled. He can't figure out why he had been thinking too much about her lately. Did he do the right thing in letting her go?

A cacophony of faint voices broke his reverie. Training his attention back to the old reactor, Cloud witnessed a sight that made his brows meet in wonderment. The dark blue uniforms sported by the men coming out from the building's front entrance were indeed familiar. But they weren't Turks.

"SOLDIER?" He muttered in surprise. "What are they doing here?"

Inching forward as much as he could allow without being spotted by his prey, Cloud examined the miscreants more closely. Everyone seem to be in casual spirits, talking and blabbering incessantly about the results of the Triple Crown Chocobo Championship event held just the night before. One expressed a rather distasteful way of showing his frustration with a melange of expletives that can offend even the most grizzled ear. Another, who appeared to have won a wager, produced a bottle of Sylkie and offered it to the one who lost, only to see the vintage wastefully spill on the ground after the loser shoved his comrade aside in a fit of impetuosity. The rash instant would have triggered a skirmish had it not been to the intervention of cooler heads.

Cloud jerked in attention when he heard what the man who had just come out of the door said, something about keeping the noise down lest they disturb the little girl who had just fallen asleep. Fighting his own impulsive urge, he slowly backed off from his perch before turning to his brown-haired companion.

"I think we've just hit paydirt. Those men were talking about a little girl with them."

"What do we do, Cloud?" Aeris came back, her eyes wide with worry. "We can't just storm the place, they might hurt Marlene."

"I know." He agreed, "Besides, those guys aren't your run-of-the-mill Shinra goons. They're members of SOLDIER. There won't be any easy way to take them on."

Cloud then fell silent in a state of deep thought, trying to come up with a plan. He was nevertheless disrupted when Aeris offered a suggestion.

"Let me create a distraction, buy you some time to sneak up from behind them."

"What do you have in mind?" He asked her reluctantly. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Why Cloud, what do you care?" Aeris shot back, almost sarcastically. But the swiftness of her snide remark was immediately followed by an equally quick, repentant tone. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. Anyway, just let me do my thing, all right? Wait for my signal before you move in."

"What's the signal?"

Aeris flashed a dark smile.

"You'll know it when it happens."

Unsure whether to allow her to her own scheme, Cloud nonetheless opted to trust Aeris, thinking that he didn't have any choice. Spending another moment to examine the surroundings, he then darted forth to an adjacent ledge, clawing along its jagged surface to swiftly climb on top of it and consequently disappear from her sight. Aeris allowed a few minutes to elapse before proceeding with the plan she had in mind.

She bowed her head momentarily, her face straining in a contorted look. She then followed with a few labored steps while scuffing her feet heavily against the ground to be sure that her arrival was noticeable enough to draw attention. A voice ringing out from the group occupying the front ramp of the reactor prompted her to let her limp body fall on the ground.

"Hey, who's that?" One of the SOLDIER operatives bellowed upon catching sight of the Ancient who had just collapsed on the rocky earth. "Whut the is that a girl?"

"No, it's a moogle with a ribbon on her head." Echoed another. "Of course it's a girl, you half-wit! Go and find out what she's up to!"

"What? Says who? You're not the boss of me. Why are you ordering me around?"

"Ahh! Forget it. Stay here while I check her out."

Aeris maintained her stillness despite the racing sensation coursing through her chest. Her hands tightened its grip on the Princess Guard, preparing for her next move as the rapid reverberations of heavy footsteps drew closer.

----------

They had thought it over, done with. They had thought that together with the vanquishing of the greatest threat the planet had ever faced was the total eradication of all the gigantic pseudo-beasts that were spawned for the world's protection. The last time it was recorded in history, there were five who rose from what seemed to be death, surging forth from the underworld bosoms that nurtured them to lay siege on what they mistakenly thought as a danger to their parent. 

The Weapons, born of a desperate planet, spoken of in mythical timbre, feared by every generation. The Weapons, a quintet of the most fearsome creatures who ever walked the face of the planet they professed to protect. Their threat, though real, was then conquered under the concerted effort of those who considered each other as enemies. Two fell along the line of fire of one big gun, while three bowed down to the gallant efforts of mere mortals who just refused to say die.

That was all of them. Nothing was left. Most especially, the threat against the planet had been eliminated completely. The planet has no reason to spawn its malevolent defenders anymore. These powerful, almost god-like creatures whose ignorant cruelty knew no bounds they really thought they had seen the last of this great race of mindless nihilists.

The crying form in the nexus of the flailing maelstrom proved them so horribly wrong. As they gazed at the blob-like fetus, they can't avoid gasping in awe from the sheer force of its presence even though it was still beneath the stage of infancy. His wails were terrible yet magnificent, his flowing anatomy of black blood and green globs swirling with the ebullience of an infant predator eager to pounce on its first victim. As in a chrysalis, the funnel of violent forces crackled with life and energy, feeding the babe with power and strength. It repeatedly shrieked in the shrillest and most ear-piercing manner, as if demanding for its mother to give it more. The planet obliged, and consequently darkened the surrounding terrain to channel all its energies toward the birth of this new nihilistic terror.

It didn't have to require the wise counsel of his grandfather for the great warrior beast to know what to do. Like his enigmatic comrade, he was aware that the destroyer of worlds must not be allowed to breathe into full maturity. He can still recall the sheer difficulty of having to battle one such as this. He can still remember how that battle they fought under the constraining bosom of the ocean almost cost his and his friends their lives. He doubted then of his capacity to face a threat of similar magnitude once more. He wished then that he didn't have to.

That's all a moot point now.

The source of the upheaval must be determined, yes. They still have to uncover the mystery behind the hurt plaguing the planet. But for now, they must deal with this newborn death-bringer first. They must strike now before the creature achieves its full capacity.

----------

Cloud had been perched on an overhead support beam for merely a few minutes, but it felt like eternity for him. Looking down once more, he counted the guards again standing vigil at the concealed back door of the old structure. Beads of sweat were now running across his wrinkled forehead. How long does he still have to wait before Aeris gives him the signal?

Reaching down to his gleaming weapon, the warrior made sure anew the array of materia affixed on the round slots provided to hold them, taking extra care to account for the scarlet Phoenix orb linked to the Final Attack sphere. The fail-safe that had provided him with numberless nights of peaceful rest with the assurance that no matter how much the tides of battle may turn against him, he will always be given at least one more chance. One more chance to prevail, one more opportunity to right the wrongs in his life. 

He then asked himself, what else was there that needs to be corrected? Notwithstanding the brief but ugly episodes amidst the insatiable demands of the self-seeking Midgar elite now holing in the town of Kalm, he had been living most of the last year in quietude and contentment with Tifa. He thought he had finally found peace, at least with those people who had been around him. But the real peace he sought had always escaped him in light of his silent yet nagging longing for the one who left them a long time ago. She had come back, merely a few days previous. At least that's what the others believed. Cloud wanted to believe it to, if not for the gnawing paranoia that had been possessing him.

He thought he was happy with Tifa, despite the fact that he still missed Aeris. And now, Aeris is back, and yet he refused to believe it. He may have logical reason for his lack of faith. But somehow, he knew that it hardly mattered. There is only one thing that he can be sure of: something was still definitely wrong with his life. Something that not even all the Final Attack materias in the world will be able to help him to rectify if he can't be true to himself.

"Damn" Cloud murmured, forcing himself back to attention. He then noticed that there was now only one sentry standing guard by the backdoor. He wondered, what could be happening to Aeris at this very moment?

"What are you all doing here? Who's keeping an eye on the girl?" Echoed one SOLDIER henchman.

"Ahh, don't worry about her. Cipris is keeping guard. Besides, we're not gonna let you have all the fun now, are we?"

"Don't be stupid, and stay alert. Who knows if this dame is only trying to draw our attention. Now go back to your posts!"

"Uhhh" Aeris moaned, making sure that she makes just enough ruckus to further attract the attention of the men around her. "I feel cold"

"See? She's in trouble! If you want, you can go and guard the little girl. I'm staying here to help this dame." Bellowed the bigger operative, his eyes curiously affixed on the Ancient's gentle face. 

Cloud didn't know whether to feel pleased or worried about Aeris. What she was doing, though seemingly effective, was also extremely risky. He had been a member of Shinra's official guard. And though he never really made it to SOLDIER, Cloud was still aware of the deprived life most of them lead in the performance of their duties. Aeris may not be in danger of getting killed, at least not at the moment. But he shuddered at the thought of the 'other' kind of threat the Ancient was facing.

He then wasted no time in proceeding with his plan, never mind the fact that Aeris still hasn't given him the signal. Cloud was just about to pounce on the solitary when a series of loud, ringing noises startled him. 

"Dammit!" He snapped out while frantically trying to silence the PHS device tucked under his belt. But it was too late, as Cloud felt the sharp pain of a hard bunt on the back of his head. Consequently feeling a spinning sensation, he then absorbed another round of hurt that came with a strong kick in his midsection. Through his squinting eyes, Cloud made out the form of the SOLDIER thug who was then already unsheathing his sword.

"I don't know who you are" The enemy voiced out. "But it doesn't matter. Give my regards to Elvis."

He swung hard, and blade clashed against blade when Cloud managed to raise the Ultima Weapon just soon enough to fend off the attack. He then used his feet, planting it hard against the enemy's stomach in a hard kick that sent him careening against the moss-covered wall of the reactor base. 

Still reeling from the attack, the spiky-haired warrior grew more alarmed when he saw the guard reaching for a black device hanging from his chest pocket. He didn't have to be a sage to know that the device was a universal pager of some sort, and one press at the blue button on its face will alert everyone wearing the same device within a thousand yard radius. Ignoring the pain in his gut, Cloud immediately dashed for the enemy. 

But it was too late, and he had already pressed the button.

"Hey, something's up!" The leader of the SOLDIER battalion hollered when his signal device went beeping scandalously. "I told you that girl meant trouble. Aelius, Maximus, keep an eye on her. Boris, you're with me." They ran off in such a frenetic fashion that they didn't notice Aeris reaching down for her weapon. When the pair that was left behind turned to her, she was already ready and waiting.

"Nice names." Aeris said while swinging on the two guards, connecting the tip of her battle rod solidly on their helmet-clad heads. 

At about the same time, the two SOLDIER operatives who went to investigate were struck back by the flying body of one of their comrades. Quickly regrouping, they then saw Cloud by the front entrance, his huge sword held aloft like a symbol of strength and honor. Buying a second, he quickly looked back to Marlene who was hiding just behind the large metal door.

"Just stay there until I tell you to come out, okay?"

"Okay, Uncle Cloud."

Turning his attention back to the enemies, Cloud didn't waste any time in unloading a Tornado attack that again knocked them off their feet. He then quickly followed with multiple level 3 Fire assaults to sustain the pressure. These are SOLDIERs, he kept telling himself. He was only too aware of their capabilities, and he can never allow them a chance to gain the upper hand. He relentlessly continued his assault until the two henchmen collapsed on the rocky earth before him.

Seeing his battle over, Cloud then focused his attention on Aeris. At first his instinct was to help her, but the sight that met his eyes momentarily froze this urge. He then watched her intently as she fought the remaining enemy left standing. And as he did, Cloud was rendered silent, dumbfounded by what he saw. 

Every swing, every stab and every pivot that Aeris skillfully performed in battle each blow, each parry, each poke He taught her all that. He gasped in awe as Aeris executed the debilitating Chopstick Pincer -- the very last maneuver that he taught her before she disappeared -- in utter perfection. He almost laughed upon noticing how she heeded his advice on always glancing quickly at her back to see if an enemy is sneaking behind her. And a soft and gentle touch caressed his heart when the Ancient winked and saluted at him after the battle. The same wink and salute combination that she had grown fond of after the first time he did it to her during their escape from the Turks in that chapel in lower Midgar, one year ago.

No one else could have known all that except Aeris. 

Apparently reading his mind, the Ancient smiled at him with that same sweet smile she used to meet his wink and salute routine. Whatever was running inside Aeris' mind during that time, only she knew. But it was evident from the look in her eyes how relieved she was at that very moment.

Cloud was just about to call for Marlene when his eyes suddenly widened with horror. One of the enemies she had previously beaten had managed to regain consciousness and was presently aiming a rock on her head. 

"Aeris, watch ou!!!"

She hardly heard his warning, her head instantly jarred by a strong impact that nearly robbed her of consciousness. Aeris consequently felt her head spinning from the blow and promptly fell down on her knees. Almost equally dizzy, the SOLDIER thug then reached for the sword sprawled just behind him, grabbing it with hands quivering with rage. 

"Oh shoot!" Cloud yelled as he sped to her aid. But suddenly, strong hands grabbed his two ankles, tripping him down on the ground and ultimately incapacitating him. "Let me go! Let me go!!!" He screamed desperately just as another enemy jumped over him to pin him against the ground. Cloud struggled ferociously, albeit in vain as the combined strength of the two SOLDIERs was too much even for him. He then looked back at Aeris and froze in utter horror upon seeing her kneeling form in front of a man with his sword raised high above her, getting ready to plunge its sharp blades into her frail body.

This wasn't the first time that Cloud witnessed an event like this. For one terrible moment, he realized that he's living the same nightmare all over again. And like the one before, he's again too helpless to do anything about it.

"No! Not again! NO!!!"

**End of Part Ten**


	11. Part 11

**

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**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

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Part Eleven

Visions of murder came flashing back into his mind in torrents. The light from a single ray of moonshine crawled along the merciless blade of the Masamune. It sped, almost like a blur, a flicker of horror contrasting the darkness that spawned it. In the heart of the man that was not anymore a man came the cries of joy, rejoicing in the torment that it imparted to the pure-hearted. In the eyes of the demented avenger with the twisted cause shot forth the cruel intent of denying the Ancient the rest of her life. The remaining years of blithe existence that was not meant to be. His silver hair ruffled in the currents of spiteful insanity, while his fair hands prepare to immerse itself in blood.

Sephiroth was alive once more. His blackish-verdant eyes affixing its sharp gaze at him, mocking him. Telling him to do that one thing he failed to do to save the life of one who meant the world to him. The fallen angel smiled at him, innocently, then murderously. Inviting him to stop the carnage while making sure that he can't. He raised his arms in the victory about to be claimed, and flailed the blade of his dark and bitter triumph.

"SEPHIROTH! NOOOOOO!!!!!" 

A haze suddenly moved like thunder, swift and unstoppable. And before Cloud realized what happened, the man who in his tormented mind briefly looked like Sephiroth was swept aside by the saving fist clad with the powerful Premium Heart. His startled eyes glared gratefully at the raven-haired savior who had just preserved the life of the Ancient.

"Tifa!!!"

And just as swiftly, Cloud felt the weight pressing against him disappear. He looked up momentarily to see the welcome faces of his old comrades, Reeve and Cid Highwind, who by then had already engaged the SOLDIER operatives in a one-sided battle. The enemies' resistance was brief and ultimately futile, unable to withstand the fiery onslaught of the rocket man and his powerful Venus Gospel. On the other hand, while nearly lacking any real technique in combat, the former Shinra executive relied confidently on the protection of his HK5 semi-auto.

"Don't try it, son." Reeve smugly voiced out while poking the muzzle of his gun against the thug's forehead. "I know you're fast. But you're not that fast."

"Heh, cocky friggin' manager" Cid scoffed while lighting a cigarette, after which he turned to Cloud to help him up on his feet. Nonchalantly surveying the battlefield, the brash pilot of the Highwind promptly smiled his usual, derisive smirk while taking note of Tifa as she allowed the limp body of her opponent to fall to the ground.

Cloud looked at Tifa. And despite wanting to thank her for saving Aeris' life, he was unsure whether to feel relieved or burdened by her presence. But he dismissed the dilemma eventually in turning his attention to Reeve and Cid.

"Thanks. But how did you guys know where to find us?"

"We just arrived this afternoon," Reeve started. "when we saw Tifa scampering out of the house. That's when I realized that those idiots have already started."

Cloud turned a quizzical look at the former Shinra executive. "Already started? Started with what?"

"Guys" Tifa suddenly interrupted. "Can you continue with that later? Aeris is hurt, we have to take her back to the house."

----------

The tortured ululation of the newborn terror echoed far and wide, the reverberations of his horrid cries reaching as far south as New Haven, a small town that sprouted up near what used to be Midgar. His eyes blinked like that of an infant searching for either food or its mother, batting the semi-solid eyelids vertically and giving a grotesque picture of its unsightly face.

He checked the accouterment of colored orbs of power in his weapon, and sighed in dismay after realizing that lack of the most powerful materia that he deemed necessary in defeating the Weapon. The man with the scarlet cloak divided his attention between their options and the threat at hand. It was not usually his style to stop in contemplation whenever faced with an adversary. For as far as he can remember, he had always moved in cold sureness and icy confidence in fighting the countless battles that he had protruded his head into. Once an unfeeling and emotionless arm of a dreaded elite army, he had been used to facing enemies that though mighty by themselves, posed no real threat to himself and his equally coldhearted comrades. Theirs had always been the one-sided affair, the encounters that had already been won even before it started.

But they never had to face an enemy like this, whose energies that fuel every fiber of its being come from the sentient planet itself where their feet had been planted since the moment of their births. They never had to stare at the face of an inferior enemy who can do nothing to put a dent on their vaunted invincibility. 

He opted for a test, and examination of the adversary's mettle. Briefly concentrating, he conjured the disgusting spirit of the curse giver. Of the fearful entity whose presence was heralded by fumes of unbearable stench and four stone pillars rising from the deepest pits of man's contempt. The entity appeared, his hideous smirk painted all over the ugly shape of his flesh-bereft face. The cauldron of hell rocked before him, inside which a concoction of poison and hatred boiled like a wronged soul's seething vengeance. The undulating gestures of its bony hands then prompted the lake of toxin to rain its wrath upon the harbinger of doom, showering it with the reeking might that can afflict a whole army with its inward assault.

The death-bringer shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

The talking lion followed suit with a barrage of its own, unleashing a succession of four Ultima attacks, fueled in part by the mysterious Quadra Magic materia that was affixed to his Limited Moon. The storm of verdant energy bombarded the vast territory like a god's revenge, bringing forth waves of destructive shockwaves that the warrior pair felt even in spite of their temporary ethereal state. The creature stepped back, evidently staggered by the powerful attack. However, its innate invulnerability enabled it to regenerate rapidly, rendering whatever damage inflicted on it completely nil.

And to their utter horror, the Weapon struck back at them in the form of yellowish-black beams that shot out from its underdeveloped jaws, bombarding them with searing solar forces that would have burned them to a crisp if not for the invisible protection of a previously conjured Wall spell. But still, the attack took its toll on the courageous gladiators. They felt as if they had just been immersed in a lake of fire, excruciating pains cutting a swath underneath their skin as if a burning current of water-fluid magma had been injected into their bodies. They felt their consciousness rapidly ebbing, a darkness from the horizon rushing ferociously toward them.

They fought valiantly, albeit somewhat in futility. The darkness in their minds began to grow, threatening to consume them in its bottomless chasms.

-----------

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?"

Cloud couldn't bring himself to look straight into Tifa's eyes. He had always known her to be the gentle and understanding soul since their childhood. More often than not, her patient ways had always brought her to a tolerant behavior of letting most of his mistakes and idiosyncrasies slide, owing from a longsuffering attitude that wrongful ways cannot be mended with spiteful words of accusation. She had been this way ever since he knew her; frequently overlooking his misgivings, often giving reason to them, and always understanding them.

But there had been a few exceptions, rare ones in fact. And this was one of those moments that though unpleasant, he knew better than to talk back to. He knew that when Tifa assumes this attitude, there's a damn good reason behind it.

They had just come back from the arduous trek from Mount Nibel, with Elmyra welcoming them in relief for seeing Marlene safe. But the short-lived respite was marred by a new wave of worry when she saw Aeris' unconscious form in the arms of a sheepish looking Cloud. The elder woman looked at the spiky-haired warrior, noting the sad repentance in his eyes that reflected the regret he was feeling at that very moment. She didn't understand it at first but Elmyra could easily tell that Cloud was blaming himself for the misfortune that befell Aeris.

A few hours ago, Reeve and Cid were assisting in the preparation for a room where the Ancient could recover and rest. And though they proceeded with the chore as if it was just business as usual, the questions riddling the minds of the pair demanded an answer. They looked at Aeris as if they had seen a ghost, consequently bringing them to a recollection of that fateful day one year previous. Cid remembered waiting at the outskirts of the Forgotten City right before he received a summons through the PHS device. The sound of Yuffie's voice came to him as totally unexpected, with her buckling tone and constricted breathing that he thought could only be brought about by something terrible. He remembered his heart racing as his feet pounded hard on the icy ground while he ran to meet his comrades. The sight that met him was that of dismal grieving, an enormous surprise for him who never expected to see a comrade felled. Even his normally peevish attitude took a back seat, completely quelled by the tragic scene of a sweet soul being laid to her final rest. 

Things were a little bit stranger for the former Shinra officer. Throughout the past adventure, he had known Aeris only through the artificial eyes and ears of an ingeniously designed toy cat mounted on a mobile moogle. Seeing the world around their travels in perennial black-and-white while faking the personality of the fabricated being, he never got the chance to know the Ancient for what she truly was. Until a few days prior to her demise, his mindset was focused on treachery and betrayal, hiding behind the cheery glow of the form while secretly serving their enemies. But in spite of that, the man behind the machine silently wished for an opportunity to gain a knowing of the girl who cordially extended her arms to his automated thrall. Reeve kept it hidden due to his shameful role in the grand drama, and he can only regret his inability to touch her hand the way their other comrades did. Yes, there did come a time when he was accepted into the group after his repentance. But it was too late. Aeris was already gone.

Now, she's lying on a bed, sleeping. She's lying before him, in the flesh. Reeve didn't exactly know what to make of the unusual circumstance that brought him face to face with the person he secretly wished to know. But at this very moment, the only thing dwelling in his mind was the desire to see her recuperate from her injuries. Even though he never got to know her personally prior to this moment, he can't deny the fact that he had grown quite an attachment to the gentle-hearted Ancient.

In a way, he thought, the ugly turn of events managed to produce something pleasant. Looking back at the last couple of days, Reeve remembered the phone call he gave Tifa to warn them about some factions of the discontented Midgar bourgeois, which threatened to get back at the group for what they claimed was their role in the city's final fate. Reeve himself didn't take them seriously. But he made that call just the same, more in wanting to touch bases with them in a friendly manner than anything else. When he heard a sobbing Tifa asking him to call back later, he consequently forgot about the whole hubbub and carried on with his daily activities. 

It was only when he discovered a clandestine transaction between some vindictive residents and a contingent of former SOLDIERs who had turned mercenaries that he decided to take action. It was still a pretty rough period, and fast travel was rather hard to acquire so Reeve opted to contact Cid Highwind and ask for his assistance. They made it barely on time, arriving in Nibelheim just soon enough to find Tifa scurrying toward Mount Nibel after Elmyra told her about Marlene's abduction. He cringed, thinking of the tragedy that would have transpired had he not found out of the intent of that particular group of Midgar residents of exacting revenge against Barret for the repercussions brought about by Avalanche's terrorist act of destroying reactor no. 1.

An old grudge, he thought, that some people just can't bring themselves to forgive. Though he had made up his mind to bring them to justice, Reeve really can't fully blame those people who hired the rogue SOLDIERs to abduct Marlene. But he also saw Barret's repentance with his own eyes or at least through the eyes of his 'Cait Sith'. And aside from his firm repugnance to the concept of revenge, Reeve also believed that two wrongs could never equate to a right. Someone has to end this long and seemingly endless chain of spiteful desire at vengeance. And if only to make up for his role in furthering the evil that was Shinra's, he opted to make the responsibility his. Even if he had to die for the cause.

Reeve inched aside slightly to allow Cid to pass in front of him. Sighing resoundingly, the pilot then opted to look out the window, from where he saw Tifa in what appeared to be a heated argument with Cloud. But it couldn't be, Cid thought. Cloud was just sitting there, his head bowed in evident regret. But for what reason, he didn't know.

"My goodness, Cloud. Didn't you even consider the danger that you two faced?" She continued in a vehement tone. "You knew you were most likely to get into a fight, so why didn't you provide Aeris with any materia? Gosh, even a measly Counter materia would have been helpful. What if we had failed to make it on time, huh? What?!?"

He maintained his silence, mostly due to the fact that he really didn't know what to say. Cloud just bowed his head in tormented thought while scenes of gruesome events that might have happened flashed in his mind. He also can't figure out why he neglected to give Aeris even a single orb that would have meant the difference between life and death. Maybe he just forgot? Not likely. This isn't something that a man accustomed to battles is inclined to overlook. 

"I I don't understand you, Cloud." Tifa furthered. "I thought this was what you've always wanted."

He raised his head to look at her, and saw the face of a reluctant Tifa who didn't know whether to carry on with her words or not. Cloud then reassumed his cowed appearance as she continued talking.

"All this time, I knew that even though you appeared contented with me, you were still secretly wishing for a second chance with her. Or at least, you were wondering what life would be like if it were Aeris you were with instead of me

"It hurts. You have to understand that it's not easy for me. But you also have to appreciate my efforts in trying to show you that I also deserve your love. But I guess it's not really a matter of whether I deserve you or not. Of whether I deserve to be happy or not. The thing is, you also need to be happy. Between the two of us, it was you who suffered more in life, and partly because of my own doing too."

Cloud remembered the lie that aggravated his past bout with self-denial. But the memory was fleeting, and ultimately irrelevant. But he would have wanted his mind to be immersed in irrelevant thoughts if only to avoid listening to her excruciating words.

"But the bottom line is, you deserve to be happy. And I know that. And I know that for you to be happy, you have to choose the one whom you've always wanted to be with. It's not easy accepting that it isn't me, but that's not your problem anymore, right?"

"Tifa" He interrupted. The look he saw in her eyes was harrowing and contagious. Cloud felt her pain. He felt the tormented throbs in her heart that had begun echoing in his own. He desperately wanted to rescue her from the hurt that she definitely didn't deserve. But he can't. For Tifa was speaking nothing else but the truth.

"No. You shouldn't worry about me. I should be the least of your concerns right now, Cloud." Tifa went on. She was forcing a smile in her lips but the glistening layer covering her eyes betrayed her breaking heart. "You finally got your wish, Aeris came back to us. Nobody ever gets a second chance like this, Cloud. Nobody. Only you."

The truth that she spoke came as both elating and excruciating for Cloud. For if Tifa's words had any substance, it would then mean his ultimate opportunity at spending the rest of his life with Aeris. But in the same way would also amount to a hurt that he inadvertently will impart Tifa. He loved her. He loves her still. That much he was sure of. But he also had to accept that his heart could belong to only one. Cloud clenched his teeth in the midst of the tearing dilemma.

But in truth, it wasn't really a dilemma that was rending his heart. He hated himself for this but he knew only too well the choice that he will be making. The only thing that was tormenting him at this very moment was the thought of the kind of pain he will be leaving Tifa with.

"Hush" She whispered while taking his hands. "Stop lashing at yourself, okay? I understand. Your heart can belong to only one. And we both know who that one will be. I will be hurt of course because"

Tifa's tears finally fell, together with a suffocating knot that restricted the flow of words from her throat. But still, she persisted. If she was going to lose him now, she might as well let him see her heart for the last time.

" Because I love you and and I want you to be happy."

Cloud could never have known a more noble soul.

"Tifa I"

"Don't worry about me and don't worry about my pain. Life's cruel like that. But it is comforting to know that tribulations like this don't last forever. Right?"

"What what do you want me to do?" He asked reluctantly.

"Just follow your heart, Cloud. Let it soar to whom it really belongs to. And I will let my heart rest for a while and then find its home as well."

A moment of silence permeated before Tifa spoke once more.

Who knows?" She chuckled falsely. "Maybe a couple of years from I can invite you and Aeris to my wedding. I mean, you are aware that I used to have a lot of suitors, right? So please... stop being a jerk, okay?"

Cloud looked straight into Tifa's eyes, with nothing but gratitude that he so desperately wanted to express but at the same time hesitated to do so. His eyes reflected the mixture of his conflicted emotions, a cacophony of silent voices of love, appreciation and a reluctant word of farewell. 

The solemn moment was then interrupted when Elmyra apprehensively disturbed their conversation.

"Uhmm excuse me. Cloud?"

Cloud lifted his head up to her just as Tifa's chest began pounding.

"Aeris is awake. And she wanted to speak with you."

**End of Part Eleven**


	12. Part 12

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**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Twelve

__

He's tired. He's never felt as exhausted as he did at this very moment. There had been many a battles that he fought that carried with it larger pains, greater aches. But they were merely sufferings of the body. They were just the cries of the minutest fibers in his physical being that demanded for rest from the endless struggles and ceaseless wars that he was forced to partake in. The copper lion wanted desperately to give in to rest, to surrender to the demands of his body. But deep inside his soul, he knew that he just couldn't give way to the hurt. 

There was something here that carried a bigger stake than anything he ever knew. Bigger than the threat of meteor, more enormous than the dangers of a demented godling. For a moment, he wished he had never allowed himself to comply with his grandfather's admonition of having his mind and heart tuned in with the planet's voice. Now he was being subjected to the endless echoes of a world on the brink of insanity. He was being forced to listen to its laments and its wails. His pain was not merely than of the physical nature. 

Born of his newly developed sensitivity, he has started to feel the planet's pain. A short period of solemn meditation and silent effort in searching for his true self uncovered a deep-seated connection to the planet's being. He had not thought it acceptable, much less possible. But he knew better than to ignore a call to his destiny. Though, unlike his grandfather, he was constructed to fight, his existence revealed a far more profound purpose. A meaning that he shared with the man who floated rather than walked. 

He had to decide between the life of a sage and that of a mighty defender. He had to think of the future. Soon, he will be having his own family. Would it benefit them more to rely on a wise man, or a gladiator? He had thought then that the two callings would never reconcile. He had to choose one, only one.

And today, he had no choice but to assume both. Flexing his wiry muscles, the lion beast pushed himself to his second wind, a gallant effort that drove back the darkness, though temporarily. At the same time, he focused his mind to that of the rift that spawned the destroyer. He tried to make sense of all the chaos and the mayhem ravaging its way out from the sacred ground. He tried to communicate with the planet, his psyche delving deeply into the world essence while his eyes guarded his perimeter.

The Weapon suddenly lashed out with vengeance, bellowing a fiery stench from its deep maw that trounced him with impunity. He slammed hard against a hard marble wall, and consequently writhed with agony. Fighting back to ignore the pain, the lion beast shook his head before assuming his battle stance. He thought, his efforts would be all for naught so long as the nihilist stood in his way. The situation demanded for its destruction. That or he may have to witness the slow death of a helpless planet crying out for rest.

Spewing out a reverberating howl, the proud warrior roused his fallen comrade. Slowly coming about, the man with the red cloak flashed his equally crimson eyes around to assess the situation. His reflexes coming to fore, the enigmatic being quickly rolled aside to dodge the humongous foot plummeting down over him. He fired a round from the powerful Death Penalty to temporarily occupy the attention of the enemy, after which he quickly dashed beside his beleaguered partner. Wincing in frustration, the Weapon roared once more, as if sending a message that it will not allow itself to be thwarted.

They froze for a moment, possessed of a frantic urgency that called for the nihilist's demise. But they just didn't know what to do.

----------

"So what now?" Cid asked, to which Tifa simply shrugged with resignation.

"I don't know It would help a lot if you could tell me what exactly do you mean by that."

"I mean" He followed up, subsequently feeling reluctant. "Uh you know. Your plans?"

He then wished he had just shut his mouth. Brash as he is, Cid Highwind wasn't beyond the sensitivity to realize what Tifa should be agonizing about. He looked at her, his eyes half-pitying and half-admiring. He can't help but sympathize with her for the burden that she had been trying to hide, and at the same time express his deep respect for her steely determination to conceal her heartache. Helplessly, the pilot tossed a glance at his spiffy-looking comrade, who was more demonstrative with his mind.

"If you want, you can come with us to Kalm when we deliver those SOLDIERs to the peace force."

Reeve then hesitated. Though meaning well with his suggestion, he grew suddenly afraid that Tifa might mistake his words as in intent for further drumming in the bitter situation besetting her. Fortunately, the former bargirl wasn't that narrow-minded.

"Thanks, Reeve. Don't worry about me, I can manage. Besides" She paused, biting her lips. "We all know what this means for Cloud. So let's just let them be. I'm sure it's going to work out for the best for all of us."

"That's what I don't like about you, Tifa." Cid blurted out. "You're too freakin' nice. I have nothing against Aeris, okay? But don't tell me you're gonna give up on him just like that?"

Tifa chose to ignore Cid's remark. What's the use, she thought to herself. She's never been inclined to punishing herself in fighting lost battle.

"Guys I appreciate your concern for me. But I'm fine, really. And" She then stopped abruptly. Looking at her two friends, she easily discerned their skepticism. Not that she blamed them for it. She really can't deny that no matter how hard she tried to act strong, the ordeal of her hurting heart was still very much manifest. She's not one who does a good job of hiding her true feelings.

Cid and Reeve then relented, figuring out that they really cannot do something to alleviate her suffering. And when Tifa stepped toward the door, they didn't make a move to stop her. They hated being unable to help, but they also knew that this is one thing that Tifa had to face on her own.

She walked out, listlessly, toward the barn that suddenly fell quite. Echoes of recent memories came rushing back to her mind, of this bar that used to be filled with laughter as she and Elmyra took amusement at a scowling Cloud who didn't know the first thing about milking a cow. Such heartwarming gaiety, permeating a time that she thought would eventually lead to a life of lasting contentment in the company of the only man she truly loved. For a moment, Tifa thought she heart Mimi's frantic moans again, mixed with the stifled grumbles of his beau as he avoided that wrong pinch that might send the cow's agitated hind leg toward his face. Those were truly happy times.

And she's almost sure they're all but over now.

Her languid musing eventually led her to the small compartment that Cloud used as an alternate bedroom. She smiled sadly, recalling the many times she quietly tiptoed from her bedroom in the wee hours of the morning to come here and share a blissful dawn with her childhood sweetheart. Her tongue felt a tinge of bitterness. All those are mere memories now, never to happen again.

Tifa then caught sight of a small pocket within the nearby haystack. It looked ruffled, indicating that it had just been intruded. She investigated, noting Cloud's Ultima Weapon that he brought along with him when they rescued Marlene from the clutches of the mercenaries. A closer look revealed the slots to be empty. Tifa sighed. Even in the midst of unusual circumstances, he still didn't neglect putting his materia in safe storage after using it. Cloud had always been tidy this way, despite the rather chaotic hairstyle he sported. 

She looked further inside the hollow cavity to notice his materia box unlocked. A slight curiosity then drove her to open it, after which she saw the neat row of green, blue and red orbs tucked in their respective holding slots. Pulling up a small cord at the corner of the box's interior, she then opened up a secret compartment.

Tifa's eyebrows met in slight bewilderment when she saw one of the three hidden holding slots empty. The KotR materia was missing.

----------

The sanctuary erupted with the raw power and rage coming from the infant demolitionist. The place that used to know nothing but blue and white in its pristine surroundings has now been introduced to the fury of bright red and orange incendiary bellows mixed with the ominous plumes of green and black mystic flames that threatened to overcome the erstwhile peaceful place. The incomplete Weapon flailed about, his arms destroying everything they touched while its eyes blasted forth hellish fires of madness and strife. 

They knew that they didn't have time for anything except direct action. Calling out for help, the raven-haired mystery man unleashed upon the creature the unfettered fury of the red dragon that introduced his scarlet ferocity amidst the backdrop of clear, blue skies. Responding to its command, the very ground that the Weapon stood on suddenly broke free from the surrounding terrain, lifting up gradually in the midst of a splitting sea of destructive force to present the enemy to the flare master. His mouth crackled with power, thereby releasing his explosive wrath on the green creature as the floating earth beneath him was disintegrated under the infernal conflagration.

It would have been enough to decimate half the world they stood on had it been directed accordingly. And yet the only thing it managed to accomplish was push the Jade Weapon a mere three steps back. It displayed incredible speed and resilience in quickly coming back with a retaliation in the form of another energy blast from its eyes. The lion beast then felt his feet suddenly touching nothing as the Terra Break attack carved a maw of nothingness within the earth. A barrage of energy bolts followed, striking the warrior pair with impunity. They writhed and squirmed in pain as the onslaught relentlessly pummeled them, almost canceling out the protective layer of Wall they erected around them earlier. When the bombardment ceased, only the gun wielder was left standing, though he was visibly weakened enormously by the assault.

He looked around, and saw his fallen comrade. A disconcerting scene that summoned malevolent, raging hell-forces from within his dark soul. In the blink of an eye, the comely face of the gunslinger boiled, convulsing violently as his mind melded with that of the demonic force lurking deep inside his psyche. Magnificent wings burst forth from the folds of his back accompanied by the sharp claws that replaced his trigger-loving fingers. What was once handsome had become hideous in revealing the devilish visage of Chaos. 

The demon-beast lunged forward heedlessly as if unmindful of the kind of threat before. Black blood pumped into his steel-tough muscles as all four appendages planted their razor-sharp claws on the miscreant. The green creature howled in pain as it felt the poison from Chaos' talons, coursing through his underdeveloped exoskeleton. A mild tremor consequently shook the ice-covered land as the Jade Weapon bucked and struggled to shake off the winged demon fastened on the back of its neck. 

Chaos groaned, together with a mighty push that drove the claws of his feet deeper into the Weapon's rubbery flesh. Securely hinging himself, he then pulled out his arms and started swinging and slashing at the enemy's head, shrieking with feral fury as ribbons of flesh, skin and greenish black blood started flying out in all directions. Delighted tongue protruded from his lips and licked off the creature's blood that sprayed around his mouth, all the more increasing his ferocity.

But the man-turned-beast was startled when slimy hands clamped tightly around him, intending to pull him out from his stronghold. Chaos mightily held on in spite of the immense strength of the destroyer tugging hard to free it self from the pain he introduced. In desperation, Jade Weapon used his other claw studding it in tearing off the portion of his flesh where the man-beast was clinging. And with a loud, hurting cry hurled both his flesh and the diminutive demon toward the rocky embankment. Chaos hit a large boulder head on, bringing undreamed of pains that consequently reverted him back to the crimson-clad gunman.

He regained control of his mind, but wished that he hadn't after being subjected to the worst headache he ever felt. His vision still spinning, the smooth-faced warrior attempted to focus his eyes, meeting with dismal failure. He was still oblivious to his surroundings when the Weapon's claws started on a speeding, deathly descent towards him.

**End of Part Twelve**


	13. Part 13

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**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

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Part Thirteen

Cloud almost laughed at the irony. As a teenager, his mother was quite proud of him for his courage and determination in pushing back all the obstacles and setbacks that besieged his early years. He was regarded highly by his friends for his steely resolve in making it to SOLDIER. He was relentless, headstrong, and almost ruthless in pursuing his dreams of one day being a part of that elite fighting squad.

He never made it, of course, but not that it mattered considering the destiny that awaited him. During the course of his adventures, he was forced by circumstances to pit his sword against the most feared combatants and fierce creatures the planet had to offer. Three great Weapons felt his wrath and succumbed to it. One powerful organization capitulated mostly due to his doing. And the might of a demigod bent on annihilation learned, in the end, that his power was still inadequate to conquer his valor.

Cloud had conquered everything and everyone that was thrown against him. He is a warrior, a renowned one, possessing the kind of courage that only a fool would not envy. He can take on almost anything and anyone stupid enough to stand in his way.

And yet he can't even muster the courage to push that measly door open.

He didn't know what to expect in coming face to face once more with the one on the other side of that door. Earlier, she was fighting alongside him. Initially maintaining his shadow of skepticism, Cloud felt the beleaguered walls of his stubborn doubt threatened by her display of combat prowess that she could only have learned from him. He watched her perform everything that he taught her. She never missed a beat nor overdid a step. 

Cloud was terrified. He wasn't sure for what reason, it seemed a hundred and one arguments were simultaneously grubbing into his mind at this very moment. Of course, he still felt guilty about intentionally failing to provide her with the materia she needed in the encounter with Marlene's abductors. If he had done so, she wouldn't be lying on that bed. Coupled with the anxiety he had been feeling ever since it all started the dilemma of having to stare into the Ancient's face and not having a strong enough will to accept the string of events unfolding before his very eyes. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. He thought it could as well be the dilemma he had to face: he can only be in one place at a time. He can either by Tifa's side or Aeris'. He should be by Tifa's side, but the silent cries of his heart demanded for that lingering want that he had been questioning since the day Aeris died. He had been asking the fates, how things could have been. He had been questioning why he wasn't given the chance to know.

Again, he scoffed. He was being given the opportunity today. And what the hell was he trying to do?

Cloud knew he had to come to terms with himself, what he really wants, and what he's afraid of exactly. He had been trying, but his efforts had been meeting utter futility since day one. There's still something else that he's missing. There's still something

Finally pushing the door, he walked in slowly dreading each step as if it would bring him new throbs of ache.

"H-Hi" He forced his mouth to say. That's all he was able to manage he still can't bear addressing her with the name of the one that he had ached for all this time.

Aeris turned to him, her face once more alive with color even though it still reflected some degree of weakness. And as before, he thought he had never seen a lovelier visage. 

"Hello" She greeted back. "Thank you for coming."

Feeling awkward, Cloud paced across the room, unsure where to position himself. Aeris just looked at him with the same degree of apprehension. She was still afraid to talk lest another scornful remark spew out of his mouth that might bring her another wave of dejection. She had decided before to simply let him be, as the efforts that she exerted in making him believe her had fallen on stubbornly deaf ears more times than she could tolerate. But then she realized, she may not have much time left.

----------

He lived a life of nearly endless battles. Though unafraid, there were times when he knew he would inevitably stare at death at its face. Sometimes, the dark enigma thought it only appropriate for a man who lived a kind of life that he did. He had always been fearless, and he never abhorred the idea of meeting a violent end.

Now death was coming for him at blinding speeds. Unable to lift a finger to save himself, he simply locked his eyes at the oncoming harbinger of doom who had taken the form of a mighty creature's talons. He braced himself, determined not to blink at the coming of the end.

A bright flash of light, however, did make him blink. In the flash of a moment, an explosion sent reverberating shockwaves that assaulted his skin and offended his ears. He shut his eyes tight to protect it from the glare of the explosion that saved his life. From a distance, he heard the frantic voices of a cavalry that he didn't expect to come to his aid.

Another explosion rocked the encapsulated paradise, and then another. He turned his surprised look at another pair of warriors coming to the rescue. He smiled while recognizing the burly figure with the gun-arm that replaced his right appendage, and the petit and sprightly ninja girl that ran by his side. 

Her auburn hair undulated with the motion that unleashed the deadly Conformer on a blitzkrieg assault towards the Jade Weapon. The creature reeled from the surprise attack, taking another step back that allowed the gunslinger to escape. Maintaining the pressure of their siege, the hefty gladiator with an offensive language fired round after round from his powerful Missing Score to keep the flailing nihilist at bay while his raven-haired comrade used a Megalixir to replenish his strength and that of the severely weakened lion-beast. Shaking his maned head vigorously, the proud warrior waved his lighted tail as he assessed the situation, taking note of his newly arrived comrades who were still pressing on their attacks. He then wasted no time in bellowing them a loud warning, after which he unloaded an Ultima salvo to further disorient the Jade Weapon. 

It was time to end this, decided the former leader of Avalanche. He double-checked the materia armed in his weapon, making sure that the scarlet orb he secretly took from his spiky-haired colleague's safe box was securely in place. He then concentrated to unleash the Thirteen Warriors.

----------

Aeris was subsequently relieved when Cloud opted to break the silence this time.

"So Elmyra said you wanted to talk to me about something."

She can't help but notice his reservation.

"You still can't bring yourself to call me by my name, huh. But that's alright, you can just call me what you want and be done with it." The Ancient snidely retorted. This time, she didn't feel repentant for her attitude.

It was his turn to regret his actions. "I I'm sorry. I really am. But"

"But you still don't believe me, is that it?"

"No it's not that" Cloud objected, recalling the recent event when it was all but proven for him that the person who claimed to be his lost friend possessed a truthfulness in her claim. He tried to redeem himself, but he didn't know whether to offer words of apology or a statement of excuse. He looked at her once more, and nagged at himself for this persistent doubt and murderous suspicion besetting him.

"Then what?" Aeris came back, her voice ready to break. "Cloud what do I have to do to make you believe me? I NEED you to believe in me."

"But how? How can I possibly believe that someone I saw die with my own eyes can just come back to life like nothing had happened?" He screamed in his mind, wanting desperately to exclaim those very words to Aeris. But again, he failed to find the strength to do so. He was still petrified with a fear whose very nature still escaped him.

"Alright" Aeris uttered decisively. Sitting up from the bed, her hands moved, albeit reluctantly, to the buttons holding her dress together. Cloud looked at her with immense puzzlement as she again began to unbutton her clothing. When she tried to do this two nights ago, he perceived her intention differently, like something that was brought about by sheer desperation. 

He still reflected the same attitude now since he had no idea what exactly she wanted to do. At face value, her act seemed like the last thing that was called for under the circumstances. This wasn't the right time for this.

But something told Cloud that there's more to this than meets the eye. He didn't resist when Aeris took his right hand once more and pushed it under her dress. She then inched his fingers upward, slowly and gently.

Cloud froze when he felt a gaping cut along her skin. He looked at Aeris, totally stunned by her revelation. She simply whispered back at him.

"That's where the blade came out."

----------

The Weapon started wailing in unexpected pain after being struck by the first of the mighty Knights conjured by the most powerful materia to have existed. The torment then continued, as eleven others followed suit with their deathly blades, maces, lances, spears and scepters that either sliced malevolently through his otherwise invulnerable flesh or unleashed unimaginable forces of hellfire, ice, and the fury of a vengeful earth. Twelve armor-clad gladiators took their turns in cutting off a piece from the suddenly defenseless creature. Twelve that was completed as the Thirteenth Knight manifested himself in all his grandeur, raising his deadly blade in dark victory before plunging it into the nihilist's tormented form. The essences shattered, bringing forth still more pain in the creature's bosoms.

It still stood, albeit weakly. The girl warrior then followed up, calling forth the same Knights from the Master Summon materia given to her as a token of her spiky-haired friend's gratitude. Horrific screams exploded from the tortured creature as the second wave brought it to the brink of death. Displaying no mercy, the gunslinger used the Mime materia affixed on the Death Penalty to call forth the Thirteen Warriors once more time. They appeared in all majesty, taking heed of the call for assistance and making sure that nothing was left of the monster that wanted nothing but destruction. Magnificent manifestations of untamed power reverberated throughout the immense battlefield as the Knights of the Round accomplished their task efficiently and without delay. Until finally, nothing was left but a sprawled Weapon, his erstwhile smoldering eyes emitting nothing now but tears of mortal anguish as it neared its end.

He trained somber eyes, silently expressing his regret for what they did to the infant destroyer. The lion-beast then turned his attention back to the large fissure in the middle of the battleground. It still emanated deathly howls from a planet overwhelmed by pain. Despite the death of the Jade Weapon, he knew that the danger has not subsided yet. The Lifestream was still bleeding, and it was now up to him to close the wound.

----------

Cloud felt his hands shake like never before. His burning eyes were already streaming with tears when he looked at Aeris repentantly. He tried to talk, but his throat was clogged with the emotions that eventually brought his quivering body down on its knees. Numb with the flood of regretful anguish, he finally conceded to the persistent voice echoing in his heart.

Somehow, he had always known it was her. From the first moment of seeing Aeris in Tifa's room, his heart felt the irrefutable joy. He didn't realize it before, but he had always believed in her, in the face of joyful tidings that saw the return of the one he had been yearning for.

Then it dawned on him. Cloud felt an anvil fall on his chest as he finally discerned the disease troubling his heart. Though he really believed her, it was really his own heart's calls that he refused to put his faith in. His fear was not born out of doubt or disbelief, but of the ominous possibility of seeing the root of his prolonged torment vanish. For the past year since Aeris died, he had nurtured this pain that won't leave, the pain that he allowed to dwell in his heart. For this same pain was the only link that he had left with her. This was the pain that he held on to in the futile pretense that every throb it carried brought her by his side again. Aeris left him, yes. So he possessed the hurt as if it was Aeris herself.

And he persisted on this until the pain managed to entrench itself deeply into his heart. He had been living with it for the past year and had been so accustomed to it to such degree that its removal would be more torturous than healing. He won't let it leave. He can't. It had been his life.

"Damn you" He agonized. "Why Why have you returned?"

"Cloud" Aeris muttered, her tears likewise flowing freely from her radiant eyes. "I have to. I I have to see you again"

He questioned her words, though only in his mind. But when he felt her hands holding his, all of the questions riddling his being suddenly vanished. For the first time in his year-long, tortured existence, Cloud decided that it was time for all of it to end. He decided to finally do away with the harrowing throes that he had been holding on to. 

Aeris had come back, and that's what he had always wanted. It was now time to let go of the pain. 

"Aeris I don't ever want to lose you again!" He exclaimed while pulling her to him, holding her tight in his arms.

**End of Part Thirteen**


	14. Part 14

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**

A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Fourteen

It had been generally a warm day with the sun rising up to a cloudless sky on this late spring morning. This was exactly the kind of day when people would come out early, not exactly to get a jump on their daily undertakings, but merely to bask in the gentle warmth of a sun gearing up to reclaim its season. The streets fill quite swiftly with the cheery sounds of children flicking their eyes and mouths about in searching for worthy opponents in a game of tag or 'The Boat is Sinking'. It was, in the truest sense of the word, a bright and picturesque day.

But Tifa still felt the haunting chill running down her entire body. She would have wanted to go out and just enjoy the sun, letting its revitalizing rays drum on her fair and soft complexion. Even though the morning was nearing its end and she's expecting to be called down anytime now for lunch, the splendor of the late morning still enticed her with its tempting resplendence. But she just didn't feel like it.

All she wanted to do was see Cloud. Talk to him. Maybe for the last time, she thought. It had been close to thirty minutes since he entered the door to the guestroom where Aeris was resting, and she had no clue whatsoever on what had already transpired. But the silence of the moment and the fact that Cloud hasn't come out yet seemed to tell her to give up her hope.

And even though she knew it would mean a hail of fiery darts hurled mercilessly toward her heart, Tifa can't seem to defeat the urge to take a peek inside the room. "Why is that?" She asked herself, wondering about the human penchant for persistently touching a fresh and open wound even though they knew exactly how much it's going to sting. She questioned why she would do this to herself, to insist on watching a scene that would definitely bring her a world of hurt.

She tried turning the doorknob. It wasn't locked.

She pushed, ever so cautiously, careful not to push too far and settling for a small crack to peep into.

She was wrong. The whole world couldn't begin to compare to the pain that she felt. Tifa felt as if her heart was mercilessly stabbed by the Ultima Weapon when she saw Cloud kneeling in front of Aeris, his arms wrapped tight around her body. She felt her soul torn asunder by the Princess Guard when she witnessed his quivering form his head buried within her rich, brown hair her fingers digging deep into his muscled back. Tifa saw the river of tears flowing down Aeris' eyes and her tear-drenched face held closely against Cloud's.

And it was a sight a million-fold more terrible than the coming of Meteor. It was a scene more horrible than Sephiroth's distorted angel form. It was even more heart-rending than the blazing red glow of a burning Nibelheim or the unmoving form of her murdered father.

Tifa had just seen her world fall apart.

And it was a sight that was beyond her power to endure. She clutched her chest, and felt her heart numbing to the torment. She knew this to be the calm before the storm. The unfeeling moment that preceded the dark and tempestuous hour when her psyche finally catches up to the tragedy of her loss. She felt her heart skip a beat, but she didn't feel like crying. Not yet. A little bit later, maybe.

Walking sluggishly, Tifa then proceeded to her room and locked the door behind her.

----------

The gunslinger raised his arms to tell his comrades to stay back as the lion-beast strutted slowly toward the green maelstrom. They didn't know what he planned to do in accomplishing a seemingly daunting task. But right now, they really can't see any option offered to them.

While approaching the crevice, his mane started to ruffle as a result of the unearthly winds being blown forth from the miniature hurricane. But the proud warrior persisted even though he can feel the force of a billion lifeforces fighting to push him back. He wasn't wanted, they seemed to say. He wasn't the one who can heal the planet's wound. He couldn't hope to be ambassador to a world whose only wish was to be relieved of the pains inflicted to it by the one who didn't have the power to let go.

But he continued on, hell bent on hearing out their anguished voices. He remembered who he was, as his grandfather taught him. He kept in mind the calling that ran through a generation of sages and warriors that decorated his bloodline. It was his time to assume his role, all he needed to do was choose. But for now, the choice of wearing two crowns called out to him. Having taken the breastplate of a gladiator, he aided in defeating the misguided creature that mistook the planet's cries as a call for chastening. Having done away with the errant sentinel, he now garbed himself with the robe of a teacher and a communicator. Or more appropriately, a mediator. He will attempt to converse with the planet and perceive the reason behind its ills.

The wind blew stronger, and his paws began to scrape against the cold ground beneath him. He strained his powerful legs to move on, unmindful of the dying Lifestream's resistance. Ignoring its spiteful words telling him that they don't have anything to say to him.

Planting the sharp talons of his padded feet firmly on the ground around the fissure, the lion-beast heaved a deep breath, preparing himself for the coming battle. He then braved the swirling maelstrom, protruding his head inside the vortex in an attempt to directly connect with the planet's consciousness. It fought back, maintaining its stubborn insistence to reject him. They made it clear that they didn't want him. But similarly unfettered, he ignored the tearing pain starting to bludgeon his mind.

The lion then leaped into the twisting tempest.

----------

They didn't know how much time elapsed since they imprisoned themselves in each other's arms. They had lost count of the seconds and minutes. And it may already have been hours for all they know. But that wasn't important for Cloud and Aeris as they further tightened their blissful embrace.

Yes, there was no doubt in his mind anymore. Cloud closed his eyes, basking in this blithe moment while smelling the sweet scent emanating from the Ancient's ribbon-bound locks. He still can't believe this instant, this event that brought her back to him. But his skepticism was not anymore born of self-denial. He was simply happy. Immensely happy. His heart was awash with a brimming joy that he never thought possible. 

He took her hand, and she acquiesced with a smile. Their fingers intertwined with each other, after which her soft hand touched his longing lips. Aeris looked at Cloud, her eyes beaming incomprehensible emotions as they absorbed the visage of a reveling being who had reclaimed his soul's longing.

"You're so beautiful" He whispered adoringly in her ears. "I don't think I've ever seen you this beautiful, Aeris"

"You're teasing me." She replied.

"No I mean it. I really do."

"Alright, I believe you. I guess that's what happens to a person after a long period of absence. No matter how I look like, you will surely say that I'm pretty."

"Have I never told you that you are?" Cloud asked, his eyebrows elevating slightly. 

"Never." She beamed. "Besides, it's not like we had a chance to spend time like this before. We were so busy then"

"Yeah I know what you mean"

A moment of silence permeated as Cloud and Aeris were inadvertently drawn to reminisce the struggles they faced a year ago. A cacophony of past images were strung inside their minds, representing a series of events that began with the first time they met in that chapel in Midgar's slum area. Cloud smiled, recalling the beauty of that moment. He had thought himself dead then after falling off a towering catwalk that collapsed after their battle against a Shinra automaton. When he opened his eyes, he thought he saw an angel. An angel whom he then remembered to be the one that shaved his pocket one Gil short in exchange for a rare blossom. He also recalled the flowerbed that he fell into, and the voice of the angel that promised him one night in exchange for his protection. 

"We never got to go on that date, did we, Aeris?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know you said you'd spend a night with me if a promise to be your bodyguard."

"Oh that" Aeris trailed off while contemplating. "Yes we did. You're planning to put one over me, are you?"

"No I am not. And we didn't have that date."

"Don't tell me you forgot about Gold Saucer." Aeris blurted out.

"You call that a date? We haven't even spent a whole hour yet when we discovered what Cait Sith had been doing" Cloud countered before abruptly changing the subject. "By the way, have you met Reeve?"

"No, not yet." She answered. "But I did catch a glimpse of him before I passed out back at the reactor. He looks like a nice guy."

"Yeah, he is. If it wasn't for his help we wouldn't have been able to stop Hojo from blowing up Midgar." He faded. "I'm sorry you missed it all"

"Yeah Tifa told me all about it" Aeris came back before falling silent. As if perceiving her mind, Cloud similarly fell into the same reverie, as he began to think about the bargirl anew. In truth, he had been thinking about this, about a possible dilemma that he might face in an event similar to this. Not that he was actually expecting Aeris to come back. Prior to her return, Cloud knew about the hopeless situation that was besetting him. But the moments of wishful thinking that he frequently found himself in did bring him to explore possible courses of actions to resolve a dilemma in that dream world where Aeris was alive once more.

Now, it had become real. And he didn't know the first thing to expect. Cloud didn't want to hurt Tifa, that much he was sure of. He loves her too much to bring her this kind of pain.

Wait a minute he loves Tifa.

But he also loves Aeris

And there can be only one

The tearing conflict drilled into his mind mercilessly. For a moment, Cloud was gripped with a nagging uncertainty on who to choose and who to hurt. 

But one look at Aeris' lovely face instantly wiped away his dilemma. And though he knew that his choice was now obvious, he still had to contend with the chore of breaking the bad news. Not that Tifa didn't know, Cloud told himself. The way she had been acting recently handily made him understand that she had accepted all but the decision to leave the house. Actually, she already would have if not for Marlene. 

Cloud definitely didn't want this, but he knew there wasn't really any other recourse.

"I I have to tell Tifa"

Aeris felt her heart crumble as a result of his reluctant statement. He stared back at Cloud with melancholic eyes. The look of sadness in those verdant jewels surprised him.

"What what's with that look?" He asked pensively.

"What do you need to tell Tifa?"

" About us Why are you asking?"

She didn't answer. But deep inside her mind, a renewed urgency sprang out, nagging her to keep her mind on her real objective. She turned away from Cloud to hide the anguished look in her face.

"You don't have to, Cloud" She wanted to say. But Aeris just can't find the strength to voice out those ominous words. She can't bring herself to reveal to him the dreadful secret that for the last two days, she had been living on borrowed time.

----------

They wanted desperately to come to his aid. But they knew they can't, heeding the formless vision and the silent voice that roused them from slumber and brought them all here. But the resonating voice of their tormented friend nibbled excruciatingly. They hated the fact that however they wanted to, they simply can't come rushing forth to his aid.

The harrowing wails continued to reverberate from the maelstrom. Inside, the folded figure of the tormented lion-beast continued to buck and convulse. He cried out loud, screamed in unimaginable agony as the immeasurable wrath of the hurting Lifestream tore into him like the fires of a blazing furnace. Every fiber in his body was bellowing out in pain, every bone in his anatomy felt as if it's shattering into a million tiny shards. From his eyes came smoldering tears, protesting against the torturous pain besieging him. He could have sworn he felt his skin come off, his flesh tear to pieces, every joint in his body reverse in a contorted fracture.

Regret was easy to come by during moments like this. And he felt as if he had taken on more than he could endure. He was only one mortal, one puny being who arrogantly thought he could take on the might of an entire world hell bent on vengeance. The terrible hour had brought him an understanding of how small he was of how powerless he was in the face of a planet's rancor.

Crying out desperately for help, his mind unwittingly recalled the words imparted to him by his wise grandfather. He had told then about this very moment when he might be forced by his destiny to offer himself in exchange for a world's rest. He had said then of this day when he shall be compelled to endure pain to calm the anger of an ailing Lifestream. And he had advised on one hope: the hope that the single-minded world would heed his words and listen to his cries.

That's what he needed, the lion-beast finally understood. If the planet will not hear him, he will need a mediator. An intercessor. One who knew of his hate first before his love. One who saw nothing but darkness in him before seeing his light. And in this lonely world of strife and anguish, he could only think of one.

"FATHER!!!"

A flicker of white light began to shine in the void of green. It started out as minute, insignificant, small. But as he stared at the little comet, it began to grow, finally manifesting as a speeding spirit who heard his call and had come to his aid. 

"My son" The mystical echo reverberated. His tears began to stream anew, but not from pain. He couldn't possibly measure the joy in his heart for finally coming face to face with his sire. The father shone in all glory, glory that wasn't his own. But rather one that radiated from his heart, symbolic of his profound love and pride for the son who stood before him. He felt his pain, and yet relieved it almost without effort with a simple look from his eyes that expressed faith.

Almost immediately, the lion-beast sensed the pain going away. At first he thought it due to death finally embracing his frail form. But it wasn't. As he turned to his father, he noticed the magnificent halo of pure, white light forming before them. His father conversed with the manifestation for a few moments before turning back to him. And the elder lion warrior narrated a story about a restless soul whose essence was sacrificed for the salvation of the world. An anguished soul who cannot find true peace under the relentless pain brought about by the voice of a self-reprising individual who could not accept her departure.

That soul, with her pain, inadvertently subjected the planet to the same harrowing nightmares. The spirit of the Ancient knew of the chaos welling out from her, but she could not do anything to bring forth resolution. She could not tame the remnants of her mortal heart that answered to the aching voice from the other side. As much as she wanted to stop it, she can't avoid infecting the Lifestream of the wails of unforgiving hearts unwilling to let go of dead memories. And she had no recourse but to escape, using forbidden faculties that enabled her to tear herself of from the river of lifeforces. And in the process, she created the wound that had been torturing the planet since.

The lion-beast recalled the blurred vision that called on to him. And finally, he understood what needed to happen, and what he must do. He spoke with his father once more, and offered himself as the conduit to bring back the spirit of the ancient.

He closed his eyes and wept, feeling a deep sadness. It was now in his hands to send his beloved friend back to the Lifestream

To send her away from them

"Auggh!" 

"Aeris! What's wrong?" Cloud echoed, suddenly alarmed when he felt her fingers dig deep into his arms.

"Cloud it it hurts!"

"What? What hurts?!?"

He was now frantic, holding on to her as she began to collapse on the floor. His horror then multiplied a million-fold when he felt something moist lining the midsection of her dress. 

Cloud froze in horror when he pulled out his hands. They were dripping with blood.

**To Be Concluded**


	15. Part 15

**

* * *

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A Pain That Won't Leave

By Soul Hunter

* * *

Part Fifteen 

**(Conclusion)**

Within the emerald tornado, the suffering lion-beast struggled to extend his consciousness beyond his previously known limits. He fought against the discouragement, against the plague in his will coercing him to stop. But above all, he battled the gnawing melancholy in his heart. As he meditated, he fought against his heart's silent wish to feel her hand on his mane once more. As he drew his breath to call her essence back, he asked himself a question of whether he has a right or not to decide on her life.

But he knew, to his sorrow, that the answer will always precipitate to but one truth.

"Unnhh Cloud?"

"Aeris! What's happening to you? Come on, tell me!"

"I I don't"

Within a matter of seconds, Aeris was overwhelmed with a sharp pain in her stomach as the wound inflicted to her by the blade of the destroyer suddenly opened up. Looking down at the widening mark of red on her dress, her face became awash with terror. She knew they were coming, but she never expected them to move so fast. Her skin began to slowly lose its color as the excruciating pain started to dig deeper into her body and soul.

" It It didn't hurt this bad before. Cloud why is it so painful?"

Nothing was written on Cloud's face except that of the look of intense fear. While trying to treat the wound from where rich blood was gushing out, his frightened thought floated back to the time when his detested enemy, Sephiroth, plunged the cold steel of the Masamune inside Aeris. It entered her back and made its way through her body like hot knife through butter, and came out on the other side, creating the wound that he touched a few moments prior.

That same wound that opened up anew, draining her of the essence and threatening to take her life once more. 

And he suddenly realized that Aeris' return was by no means a permanent one. Whatever forces or powers that enabled her to defy death and walk back among the living, those forces were now losing their energies. Whatever nurtured her borrowed existence, it was taking all of it back now. Still, he fought against crippling despair to fabricate a hope that he feared could not exist anymore. 

"Aeris, don't worry. I'll get help, you're gonna be just fine" Cloud stammered, trying to feign courage.

"Cloud, no. I'm not going to make it. Our friends our friends have come They have answered my call"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Cloud, I" Aeris winced, pushing herself hard to voice out her words. " I DON'T HAVE much time left. Please"

He paused, feeling his blood freeze at the sound of her words. What did she mean by not having much time left?

"Please just listen to me"

The dawning of her words' meaning struck him like a speeding doom train. Cloud felt light-headed. She can't possibly be saying that she was leaving him again.

"Cloud I heard your voice. Even within the Lifestream, I was still hearing your voice. The sounds of your distraught heart echoed to me and lingered in my soul"

He was hearing her. But Cloud had to concentrate, his mind struggling hard to make sense of her words as it fought to endure another wave of despair.

"If I'd been alive I should feel happy. But I wasn't, Cloud. I I have moved on I've crossed into the other realm But your voice kept me from crossing into the planet. Your pain kept me from completing my journey. I was stuck because you won't let go of my memories. And that's why I can't complete my voyage. Your voice was drawing me back.

"I was hearing you listening to you listening to your sad heartbeat that won't let me go. I wanted to rest and just ignore your voice. But I can't because"

She doubled up as the burning pain undulated inside her body. And for a moment, Aeris caught a glimpse of a dark tunnel that was bidding her to enter. She bit her lips, the pressure of her bite nearly causing her paling lips to burst. She struggled with the remaining strength she had in fighting off the cold suction of death. It drew frighteningly close, and yet she held on. She still hasn't done what she came here to do.

His mind saw a towering wall in front of him, a wall that he knew stemmed out from the Ancient's stubborn resistance to heed his call. The lion-beast wanted to cry out in anguish, half-detesting this role that was forced into him by grim circumstances. He knew he was called here to make sure that the consequences of her action were rectified. And yet, he still cursed his role. His mind knew exactly what to do, but his heart defied it.

He heard her pleading voice that begged for more time. She still hasn't done what she appointed herself to do. And yet, the threat of a planet's essence unraveling right from under them prompted him to ignore her begging voice, no matter how it pained him. With much agony, the lion-beast pushed on, burying his affection for his emerald-eyed friend for the sake of the multitude who had more right to continue on living.

"Aaahhhh!"

"Aeris" Cloud muttered, his voice nearly inaudible due to the bitter strain in his heart. His eyes were already hurting from the stress and the tears that were flowing from them, and even the feel of her soft fingers against his lips, prompting him to stay silent, was not enough to lighten his burden.

" Because I love you. And I just can't turn my back on your voice."

Her cold hands gripped his like a clamp. His teeth gnashed tightly. He was starting to lose her, and he knew it. Cloud desperately wanted to snatch Aeris from the unforgiving grasp of death that was pulling her away from him. But all he could do was weep in utter helplessness.

"That's why you have to let me go, Cloud." She stuttered, her words nearly obstructed by the short and shallow gasps as she labored for every breath. "We have to let each other go"

"But what about my pain?" Cloud's broken voice interrupted. 

Aeris tried to force a smile through her exhausted lips while lifting a hand to his face. "I am your pain, Cloud. A A pain that won't leave because you won't let it. But you have to let it leave because it has already left you. I have" Fresh tears fell from her tired eyes. " I have already left you. I hated doing it but I had to because that's what my life was about."

" Aeris no! I beg you"

"No, Cloud" Her voice came as a whisper now as her life ebbed away. "I called our friends to close the the wound in the planet that I created. And they're almost finished, Cloud. They're finished "

His tortured howls reverberated throughout the vast expanse of the Forgotten City, echoing far and wide in its harrowing resonance. His friends felt the anguish, and they themselves wept, having fully understood only at this moment the voices, visions or dreams that brought them here: to make sure that their beloved friend, who had denounced death despite the danger it spawned, was returned to her final rest. One year ago, they stood in torment, and wept helplessly when the gentle-faced Ancient had her life snuffed by the insane destroyer. They can still remember the grief that engulfed them then.

But that sorrow became nothing compared to what they had to undergo today. For this time, the decision to end her life once more was entrusted on their reluctant hands. And even though they knew it was for the survival of the planet, they still smote their hearts for having been responsible for her second death. She was taken away from them once more, perhaps this time with finality. And they were the once who did it.

And he felt his fingers tingling once more his mouth drying up his eyes burning. Cloud rocked himself, as if mindlessly. In his arms lay Aeris' lifeless body.

----------

She held on tight, her tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb as if her life depended on it. Slowly, Marlene inched forward, careful not to fall into the water as she placed a single flower by the foot of the makeshift raft padded with a soft layer of pink, red, yellow and blue blossoms. Barret watched his adopted daughter intently, and then lifted her up on his shoulders before turning his somber eyes toward the figure lying on top of the flowerbed. Reeve later walked beside him to toss another flower into the floating structure where Aeris' remains lay.

"I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to meet her, Reeve." Barret said softly.

"Yeah, me too." The Shinra executive replied. "In a way, I did. But things are much more different from how I saw things through Cait Sith."

The former leader of Avalanche didn't answer back. Deep inside, he was contemplating on the arcane circumstances that went down, particularly that strange urge he felt a couple of days later. He was not one who believed in ghosts or angels or anything spiritual, conceding his belief for the planet's life as the only thing that ruled conventions. However, that uncanny, soundless voice that spoke to him not-so-recently bothered him to no end, not knowing what it really meant. He remembered capitulating to the voice, secretly taking the KotR materia from Cloud's safe box in the process. He didn't know why he had to lie to everybody, telling them that he had gone to North Corel when in truth, it was to Wutai he journeyed to, subsequently meeting with Yuffie and then going with her back to the Forgotten City. He didn't have the answers then, all he felt was the strong drive to do those things.

He never even imagined where the silent voice came from. He never even thought that the Ancient might have been behind them all.

Vincent then walked up to him, with that same shadowy disposition that they had grown accustomed to.

"I take it you dreamt about her, too." He opened up.

"Nope. Is that what happened to you?" Barret returned the question. However, the grim gunman was drawn to ignore the reply when he heard faint sobs from behind him.

Yuffie wept silently, somewhat careful not to disturb the solemn atmosphere. She can't help thinking about a moment she spent on this very spot, a month previous, when she sat in solitude and sought reprieve for her loss. The young ninja can't avoid marveling at the circumstances.

"I I was here only a couple of weeks ago." Yuffie mumbled to Cid. "If I'd known this would happen, I would have stayed a little bit longer. Maybe maybe Aeris wouldn't have needed to go away again."

"Ah, don't be so hard on yourself, kiddo." The pilot returned. "Nothing you would have done could have changed the outcome anyway." Cid furthered while tossing his eyes toward Tifa. "At least not the kind of change that's been giving me the willies."

She didn't want to let the others see that her mind was in complete shambles. Only yesterday, Tifa made a resolve that no matter how hard, she would try to get out of Cloud's way, with the understanding that he had finally gotten what he had always wanted. She was preparing herself for a life of solitude, a life of patiently enduring her sorrow with hopes that things will go for the better once she had learned to let go. She didn't have an idea how to do it, but she also didn't have any choice. Cloud and Aeris were finally together. And even though she insistently professed on being happy for them, the thought still pinned her down like railroad spikes driven through her hands, feet and heart.

And now, Aeris was gone. And she didn't know how to take this tragic turn. Would this mean she's now free to be together with Cloud? She didn't even consider the thought. All she knew was a troika of pains, a triangle offense of hurt beginning to rear their ugly heads on her.

Considering the aggravating circumstances, she should have been the last person to admit that she was affected by the demise of the Ancient. But the fact simply attested to its bare truth. Looking at the floating structure made of light wood, bamboo poles and abaca yarn, all she could feel was pain. She could barely look at the one who lay on top of the flowers. Aeris. Her friend had left them again, shattering the promise of sisterly love that once permeated between them after they first met. No matter how conventions decree that she was a rival, Tifa didn't seem to care. The only thing that she saw from her departed friend was the sister that she never had. The best friend that can no longer offer her a listening ear on a consoling shoulder. Never again.

She looked around, but didn't see Cloud anywhere. Tifa bit her lips, feeling sorry for the pain that must have been eating into him at this very moment. She knew only too well how much he longed for her. She was aware how hard it hit Cloud when Aeris first died. Seeing her die again, after a false promise of hope, must have been nothing short of unbearable. Tifa wondered if only there was something she could do

If only he would let her.

The third pain. This wasn't exactly an ideal situation for the two of them to find their way back to each other again. And the possibilities frightened her. What if Cloud could never recover from this experience anymore? What would happen? Why was she feeling the harrowing fear that she had just lost him completely?

Her melancholic musing was broken by a blazing streak at the corner of her eye. Looking to her left, Tifa was stricken anew with grief when Vincent finally handed a burning torch to the weeping Elmyra. The drenched eyes of the mother strained and squinted as she shoved the torch into the layer of dry hay beneath the flowerbed where Aeris lay. As the blaze on the floating burial bed grew larger, Cid used the Venus Gospel to push the structure into the lake. It drifted off silently, the flames unusually making little noise, as if sympathizing with the eight souls left behind along the stony shore. 

The flames grew bigger, its silent fury consuming the remains of the last Ancient. The bright yellow resplendence mirrored brightly along his glistening eyes. Cloud stood silently on top of a tall ledge overlooking the lake, his face showing no semblance of expression as he stared at the funeral pyre slowly dying down. As the sooty remains of the burial raft smoldered, the smoke had little time to bellow as it began to sink into the pristine lake taking her ashes with it. 

Aeris is gone.

Cloud shed no tears. Apparently, he had already used up all his tears. His face didn't contort or scowl in anguish, already exhausted from expressing his pain

"She went to incredible lengths just to get to you."

He didn't utter a word. There was nothing else left to say.

"All she wanted was for you to be at peace. She could never rest in her own peace otherwise."

The spiky-haired warrior sniffed. He glanced back at the proud ferric color of the warrior lion with the tail that shone like a torch. But his eyes were empty, as if gazing right through and past Red XIII's body itself. And one look in his eyes made the lion-beast shake his maned head in frustration.

"Cloud let her rest. Let her stop worrying about you."

Still, he maintained his unsteady silence, training his reddened eyes back to the spot on the lake where the burial raft sank with what remained of the woman he loved. His expression remained stoic, cruelly hiding the bitter resentment dwelling inside his heart. Cloud wondered How could Aeris be so selfish? How could she know about his great yearning for her and still decide to leave him behind?

Red XIII had no power of telepathy. But he didn't really need it to predict what's on his comrade's mind.

"If you're thinking that, don't. It wasn't easy for Aeris to do what she did. She knew the risks, and she still took it. Never mind that she asked us to clean up after her mess. She knew what she did was dangerous. But she felt she needed to come to you because of your pain. She thought the only way to ease your suffering is for you to see each other again, so that she can tell you in person that you have to stop dwelling on the 'could-have-beens'."

Red XIII's resolute way of talking somewhat stimulated Cloud, eliciting a slight look of bewilderment from his indifferent visage.

"Aeris was never selfish, Cloud. Besides, we both know it wasn't only your pain that she tried to vanquish."

He trained his one working eye downwards, locking it on the distant figure of the girl with raven-hued hair. 

"She tried to do away with as much pain as she could. But she didn't have enough time to do it. And in the end, Aeris had no choice but to leave it all to you to decide."

Cloud followed Red XIII's line of vision, likewise fixing his gaze on Tifa.

"Will you continue to selfishly imprison yourself in self-reprisal? Or will you cease these futile wishes for things that could have happened but didn't? It's all up to you, Cloud. It's all up to you. Things happen for a reason, the same way that people live and die for a reason. And if you can't even figure out how to recognize if something was meant to be or not, how can you lead yourself to your own reason for living? You can't. And you'll just end up trapped in a hopeless maze of your doing, forever imprisoned in your painful fantasies."

Cloud hated it, but he knew something flickered inside him after hearing the lion-beast's hard counsel.

"My friend, to die once must be horrendous. But to die twice? I can't even begin to imagine. Please do not let Aeris' suffering and sacrifice be in vain."

Red XIII started walking away, but not before throwing a final glance back at Cloud. But the latter wasn't looking anymore, his eyes focused on the starry night whose serenity offered him no comfort. He was still quiet, brooding, and yet unflappable in his expression. His eyes though, darted swiftly from one point in the sky to the next, searching for an answer. Cloud still felt bitter inside, his heart still felt hollow as if its inside was carved out with a spoon. 

And yet, he knew his comrade was right. There had to be a reason why he didn't get his heart's desire. For whatever or whoever it was controlling the fates of all who breathe couldn't possibly be that cruel. There had to be a purpose behind the denial of his wish. Somewhere, there had to be a window opened to make up for the door that was slammed shut in his face.

Struggling against his devastated emotions, Cloud uttered a silent prayer

----------

TWO WEEKS LATER

Peeping inside Cloud's room had almost become a morning routine for her ever since he left. Tifa didn't know why she still bothered. Perhaps it was because of the hope that he will someday return. She kept asking herself if it was healthy to keep her hopes up despite the fact that he left most of his things behind. It did suggest that Cloud's departure was only temporary. But still, there's this anxiety in her heart that nagged her not to expect too much however she wanted to.

He said he needed time for himself, to think about things. To ponder about his life and its direction. And in her mind, he may as well have all the time he wanted. The events of two weeks past wasn't exactly one of the easiest any person could bear. It was harrowing for Cloud, having to come face to face with the person he had been wanting to see badly, only to see her vacate his life once more. For all intents and purposes, Tifa knew she shouldn't view these tidings without at least a hint of resentment. She just witnessed the man she loves agonize over the loss of someone else. At the very least, she should feel her pride slighted.

But to her consternation, she can't seem to feel any pride in herself at all. She still remembered what she told him a long time ago.

"As long as I'm with you, as long as you're by my side, I won't give up even when I'm scared."

And Tifa was indeed scared. She had never been this scared in her entire life. Much as she hated to admit it, she knew that her life would never be the same without Cloud. She reflected this same fear everytime she took a peek inside his room every morning. And she realized this fear time and again during the last two weeks everytime she saw his room empty and his bed neatly made.

Like in this one.

Sighing with resignation, she then proceeded down the stairs, dejectedly. Like how she had been doing it during the last mornings. Being the first day of school, she had gotten up earlier than usual today to prepare Marlene's breakfast. She knew the child was supposed to leave the house at 8 AM. And looking at her watch, she realized that she still had at least one hour to do her chores. That, of course, included the tedious routine of putting up with Mimi's tantrums while she milked her.

Making a beeline past the kitchen, Tifa nonchalantly proceeded to the barn where the stubborn cow was stabled. And again, she remembered Cloud, and how during mornings like this she would hear his exasperated complaints while Mimi gave him time much tougher than they had fighting the ludicrous Proud Clod. As she reminisced, she thought she heard his voice come alive in her mind once more.

"Stand still, you dumb cow! You're spraying milk all over my face!"

Tifa snickered. Those were the days

"Mimi!!! One more time you shove your butt in my face and you're a cheeseburger. Do you hear me?"

"Huh?" She suddenly wondered. That voice wasn't just coming from her imagination. They were emanating from inside the barn.

Could it be?

"C Cloud?" The former bargirl of 7th Heaven stammered after opening the door and seeing Cloud on his usual, tumultuous perch behind the irritated cow. "You You're back"

"Oh, hi Tifa." He returned before another glob of milk splashed on his face. "Hoo boy, she's becoming tougher with each passing day."

"Yeah I suppose" Tifa answered. But her reply almost passed over her head, as she suddenly became unaware of the surroundings. She was totally surprised to see him back.

"By the way, Marlene left with Barret and Elmyra earlier than usual. They said registration procedures have changed in school so they had to get there as early as possible. Wished I'd told you this sooner but Mimi's having her usual fit again. This lady still hate me, it seems."

Totally dumbfounded, Tifa found herself completely at a loss for words. She simply spent the next few minutes watching Cloud struggle to finish the chore, chuckling on occasions everytime the irate cow bumped him on the head with her behind or whack his face with her tail. But despite the apparent levity, her heart was pounding violently. Though she was undeniably happy to see him, Tifa still can't shake off the anxiety besieging her heart. Wishful thoughts began flooding into her mind, threatening to overwhelm her with their shaky promises. Tifa opted to still her excitement at least until she had heard what he had to say.

Finally, Cloud gave up after managing to get a half-full bucket of milk from the cow. He then proceeded to transfer the milk to the aluminum containers before proceeding to an adjacent water faucet to wash the sticky sensation off his face. And when he finally faced her, she felt the drums in her heart beat even more fiercely.

"I hope you don't mind me coming back and all."

Coming back? In what sense?

"Oh of course not, don't be silly. This is still your house, you know." Tifa stuttered. "So How are you? Are you okay?"

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm great. Never felt better." Cloud quipped back with a smile.

"Really? Are you sure?" Tifa persisted. The unfathomable smile on his face almost brought her to regret her question.

"You mean that?" Cloud feigned a question. "I'm okay. Don't worry about me."

"Oh alright, then. It's nice to hear that."

"Yeah" Cloud trailed off, walking toward the makeshift bed he sometimes used whenever he didn't feel like sleeping inside the house. Tifa felt anxious once more as she noted his silence. She wanted so badly to just come out and ask him those otherwise sensitive questions that she feared he wasn't ready to answer yet. It had only been two weeks, she thought. But still, the questions kept rapping against her soul, begging to be released.

"So where've you been during the last couple of days?"

"Oh just traveling. Here and there paid a visit to the Forgotten City two days ago. You know, the usual suspects."

So he visited Aeris' grave, Tifa thought. Maybe she shouldn't be premature with her excitement. Her face was just about ready to relinquish its merry shade when Cloud spoke out once more.

"I was thinking about Aeris. What she did what she tried to do and how I should respond to her."

"Cloud I'm not asking for us to talk about this. I know how painful it must have been for you so"

"No, no. Hear me out first, okay?"

" Alright"

"Okay. As I was saying I was thinking about Aeris. And well, let's just say I'm not going to underplay the fact that I really loved her."

"Yeah I know." Tifa answered as she felt a slight pinch in her heart. "That's why I'm still worried about you. I'm thinking that maybe you might not be able to accept having lost her."

"Uh-huh, that's what I thought at first, too"

The long pause slightly alarmed Tifa. Her need to hear out his next words nearly overcame her.

"But the thing is I never really had her. And it's impossible to loss something that I don't have, right?"

She looked at him, perplexity written all over her face. 

"Yeah, that's correct. So what are you driving at?"

"Well it's just that I already had someone. In fact, I believe I've had her from the start, since we began meeting on that old well. You know where it is, right?"

"Yeah, I know." She retorted with a slight smile.

"Anyway, she's a very wonderful girl. At least as far as I know."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'AS FAR AS'?" Tifa abruptly stopped herself. Her impulse for being offended by his obviously joking remark was instantly replaced by a realization that there's a reason why he was referring to her in third person. " Uhh, sorry. Okay, go on"

"And because of some things that I tried to hold on to but weren't really mine to begin with, I hurt her. I hurt her real bad. And I really feel terrible about it."

"You SHOULD! Err Uhh I mean Really?" Tifa pretended to stammer. She flashed a cheery smile toward Cloud to prompt him to continue.

"Yeah, I feel terrible and sorry for what I did. I want to tell her that I've finally come to my senses and realized just how much she really means to me. But" His forehead wrinkled in feigning deep thought. " How can I do that and convince her at the same time that I'm not doing it on the rebound? I mean, how can I tell her that" Cloud's eyes then fixed on Tifa's. " That she's everything I've ever wanted, and everything I'll ever want in life?"

Her smile disappeared, and was replaced by the glistening in her eyes. "Why Why do you think that?"

"Because She's always been there for me since the start That even though I hurt her, she still thinks about my well being over hers and that that she's the only one who truly understands me."

"Cloud"

"But most of all" He followed, his voice starting to crack. " Because I love her. And I suddenly realized that I can lose all my friends and I can lose all my possessions and still survive in this world. But if I happen to lose her I wouldn't last even a single day"

Beads of joyful tears consequently dripped down from Tifa's eyes as Cloud's words completely melted her heart. And for the first time in a long, long while, she felt her greatest fear releasing its hold on her. For the first time, she felt the lingering pain leaving.

"So?"

"So what?" She stuttered back at Cloud while wiping away her tears.

"So how am I gonna convince her?"

"I don't know It's a tall order for you but you can try. But I think you may need to do a great deal of work to convince her. I mean you did hurt her that much, right?"

"Yeah I did."

"So you still plan on trying?" Asked Tifa.

"Yep" Cloud nonchalantly quipped back. "She's worth it"

**The End**


End file.
